Typhoid outbreak reaches 144 at Chindwin Barracks in Kabwe
At least 144 people at Chindwin Barracks in Kabwe, Zambia have been stricken with the bacterial disease, typhoid fever, according to a Zambia Daily mail report today.
Central Province acting medical officer Abel Kabalo said, “As of today, the cumulative number of people with suspected typhoid at Chindwin Barracks is 144. We are doing our best to contain the disease and people should not panic.”
Contaminated water at the Barracks is suspected; however, results from water samples are still pending.
“Our appeal to Kabwe residents is that they should not panic. The situation is under control and typhoid is only concentrated at Chindwin Barracks,” he said.
Dr Kabalo urged Chindwin Barracks residents to observe high levels of hygiene by boiling their drinking water or adding liquid chlorine to it.
Typhoid fever is a life-threatening illness caused by the bacterium Salmonella typhi. Salmonella typhi lives only in humans. Persons with typhoid fever carry the bacteria in their bloodstream and intestinal tract. In addition, a small number of persons, called carriers, recover from typhoid fever but continue to carry the bacteria. Both ill persons and carriers shed S.typhi in their feces.
You can get typhoid fever if you eat food or drink beverages that have been handled by a person who is shedding S. typhi or if sewage contaminated with S. typhi bacteria gets into the water you use for drinking or washing food. Therefore, typhoid fever is more common in areas of the world where handwashing is less frequent and water is likely to be contaminated with sewage.
Learn more about typhoid fever in this educational video
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