Fourth child with typhoid fever

Officials are confident the fever is confined to the Pill area

A fourth child from Newport in Wales has been diagnosed as suffering from typhoid fever.

The youngster is being treated in hospital and is expected to make a full recovery.

Initial information suggests there maybe a possible link to the three previous confirmed cases.

A takeaway shop in the Pill area of the town voluntarily closed temporarily while investigations into the source of the disease continue.

An investigation led by Newport Council in conjunction with the Gwent Health Authority and the Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre (Wales) began after three local teenagers were confirmed with the disease.

Rare disease

The two boys and a girl are being treated in hospital and are expected to make a full recovery.

Typhoid fever is fairly rare in the UK and the majority of reported cases are contracted abroad.

Between 100-200 cases are confirmed each year in the UK, with 80% coming from overseas.

The last significant cluster of five cases was reported in 1992, according to a spokesman for the Public Health Services Laboratory.

But initial investigations have revealed that the youngsters have not been on holiday or had contact with someone from a country where the disease is endemic.

Family and close friends of the teenagers have been screened as a precaution.