What Causes Typhoid Fever?
Q:
What causes typhoid fever?
A:
Typhoid fever is contracted by drinking or eating the bacteria in contaminated food or water.
People with acute illness can contaminate the surrounding water supply through stool, which contains a high concentration of the bacteria. Contamination of the water supply can, in turn, taint the food supply. The bacteria can survive for weeks in water or dried sewage.
About 3%-5% of people become carriers of the bacteria after the acute illness. Others suffer a very mild illness that goes unrecognized. These people may become long-term carriers of the bacteria – even though they have no symptoms – and be the source of new outbreaks of typhoid fever for many years.
Keyword: causes typhoid fever
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