The number of typhoid cases in the Jizan region of Saudi Arabia near the border with Yemen has climbed to 190, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.
Okaz said schools in the kingdom's southern province were the worst affected and that education authorities had mobilized a medical team to counter the outbreak. No death toll was reported.
Typhoid fever is contracted by eating food or drinking water infected with salmonella. Death rates of 10 percent can be reduced to less than one percent with antibiotics, according to the World Health Organization.
Okaz reported the outbreak for the first time on Monday and said 118 people had contracted typhoid in Jizan, which was already been hit by the deadly Rift Valley Fever (RVF) in September.
The death toll from RVF in Saudi Arabia stands at 108, while the health ministry in Sanaa has given a toll of 109 dead in Yemen.
RVF is a virus that affects mostly animals. It can infect humans who are bitten by mosquitoes, which carry the virus -- RIYADH (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
