Public health issues warning to keep watch for typhoid fever

Ottawa Public Health is warning health professionals to be on the lookout for typhoid fever in patients after receiving reports of cases that appear to have been acquired locally.

Typhoid fever is a serious bacterial infection caused by a type of salmonella bacteria. It is not common in Canada and is usually linked with travel to countries that do not have adequate sewage and water treatment. That is what makes the memo OPH sent to physicians, nurses and others this week so unusual.

Ottawa Public Health says there have been five cases of typhoid fever reported in Ottawa between October 2018 and February 2022 that appear to have been acquired locally, something that is extremely rare in Canada.

Associate medical officer of health Dr. Monir Taha asked health professionals to consider typhoid fever when diagnosing patients with symptoms such as high fever, headache, fatigue, abdominal pain, diarrhea or constipation, even if they have not travelled to an endemic country. In a statement, Taha said the five cases reported to OPH between October 2018 and February 2022 had commonalities, including similar wholegene sequencing. Public health is monitoring the situation to see if there may be a common source of infection.

All five individuals have recovered. In a statement, Taha said the cases were not cause for alarm or concern among the general public.

“The risk of typhoid fever is very low in the community as typhoid is not endemic to this area and locally acquired cases are typically rare,” the statement added.

Ottawa Public Health's infectious disease program and epidemiology team is continually monitoring infectious disease trends in the community. That includes following up with all cases of typhoid fever.