Zimbabwe battles typhoid outbreak

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HARARE, Zimbabwe, July 26 (UPI) -- At least 111 cases of typhoid were reported in the Zimbabwean cities of Harare and Chitungwiza, officials said.

Harare officials said the outbreak was due to water shortages in the city, and in the satellite towns of Chitungwiza, Norton, Ruwa and Epworth, the Zimbabwe Herald reported

The majority of the cases, 83, were in Chitungwiza, the report said. Harare had 28 confirmed cases, with 25 of those at a supermarket in the Avenues area and three were in Mabvuku/Tafara suburb.

The supermarket has since been barred from selling fresh, raw and cooked foods, City health services Director Dr. Prosper Chonzi said.

"We are still tracing the customers who bought food from the supermarket," he said.

"We have a full outbreak response team in Mabvuku and Tafara. We have stationed a doctor at Mabvuku clinic to attend to the cases."

Typhoid fever is a common worldwide bacterial disease, transmitted by food or water contaminated with the feces of an infected person, the Herald said.