Radio New Zealand
Auckland, March 31, 2017
Public health officials are trying to trace the path of a typhoid outbreak that has required 10 people to be hospitalised in Auckland.
The Auckland Regional Public Health Service (ARPHS) said it was tracing people who had been in touch with the people confirmed to have had the disease and was trying to control its spread.
Typhoid can be a serious illness and can be potentially fatal, but can be treated with antibiotics.
The symptoms
Symptoms include a high fever developing over several days, headaches, general weakness and muscle aches.
Stomach pain and constipation are also common, with some victims suffering diarrhoea.
Medical Officer of Health David Sinclair said that the disease was spread mainly through water and food, but could be spread person to person.
He said that the outbreak had developed over the past ten days or so and the patients were from a range of places in central and southern parts of Auckland.
Severe cases
He said those in hospital were quite unwell.
“These are people who have been admitted to hospital because their symptoms are quite severe, and quite a large proportion of people who develop typhoid fever do get admitted to hospital for antibiotic treatment and assessment.”
Most of the typhoid cases in New Zealand were imported, from people coming back into the country, either with symptoms or as carriers, mainly from the Pacific or southeast Asia.
Dr Sinclair said that basic hand-washing was one of the best methods of protection and urged anyone with symptoms to see a doctor.
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