21 Jul 2005

Typhoid not as bad as reports say - Fiji medical official

8:33 pm on 21 July 2005

Health officials in Fiji say they are confident that a typhoid outbreak in the country's northern division is under control.

While only four cases of typhoid have been confirmed, doctors believe up to 50 people in the district of Bua may have contracted the disease.

The director of the northern division health services, Dr Ami Chandra, says the disease is being spread by poor food preparation during communal gatherings such as weddings and funerals.

But Dr Chandra says the incidence of typhoid is lower in the division now than it was three months ago.

"I'm confident that it has been contained in the division, but sporadic cases are still being picked fom here and there and we have determined the sources of the outbreak and all the cases that we have picked up have been treated."

Dr Chandra says there've been about 70 cases reported in the division in the last three months following an outbreak in the central division, which includes Suva.