CAIRO: Shobra residents are voicing their fears over the spread of Typhoid in their Cairo neighborhood and have issued their complaints over government inaction to the area's general deputy's office. The residents of the middle-class area west of Shobra, in Om Bayoumi, fear that technical defaults may provide the suitable circumstances for the dangerous illness to spread, local news sources reported on Wednesday. According to Youm el-Saba'a newspaper, 23 Egyptians fell ill with Typhoid Fever in Al Barada' village in Qalubiya, in the northern Nile Delta region. The fear stems from the fact that drinking water may mix with sewer water due to the poor conditions of the pipes in the areas. Typhoid fever is spread by eating food or drinking water contaminated with the bacteria. Other respected sources say the number of people infected across the country are in the hundreds. Several breaks within the drainage pipes mixed with recently installed drinking water pipes have caused the major health incident, reports indicate. Local reports mentioned that the Qalubiya governor had called in the contractor of the pipe installation for questioning earlier this month and later filed a complaint against him at the general prosecutor's office, holding him responsible for the mixing of the water and causing hundreds to become sick. According to the American Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Typhoid Fever is caused by the bacterium Salmonella typhi and lives only in humans. While the infected person may carry the bacteria in their blood and intestinal tract, otheers may recover from the disease and continue to carry the bacteria in their guts. The Egyptian government has apparently issued a press blackout on coverage of the possible outbreak. According to Mamdouh Khalaf, the undersecretary for Qalubiya's Health Ministry, “the ministry of health issued a decision that bans any press statements or revealing any information, and those who want information can obtain it from Dr. Abdel Rahim Shahine, the official spokesman of the Ministry of Health.” A medical source in Humiyat hosptial told local press that another 8 confirmed cases of Typhoid have been discovered in the governorate. Outbreaks are feared in the governorates of Sharqia, Beni Sueif and Asyut. The exact number of those infected is unknown at this point. The ministry of health was unavailable to comment on any updates as of Wednesday evening. **additional reporting by Mohamed Abdel Salam BM
