[Typhoid fever epidemic in Ahmetli village, Diyarbakir-Ergani].

Salmonella typhi leads to typhoid fever outbreaks due to the contamination of drinking water. In this study, a typhoid fever outbreak due to drinking water contamination in Ahmetli village, Ergani-Diyarbakir, in the period of December 25, 2001-January 4, 2002 was evaluated. A total of 181 suspicious cases were admitted to different health care centers during the outbreak and 71 (39.2%) of them were hospitalized. Gruber-Widal test could be performed for only 8 hospitalized patients, and were found positive in 6 of them. S. typhi was isolated from 3 of the 26 blood cultures and two of the 73 stool cultures of the patients. All village inhabitants were visited and suspicious cases were screened for salmonellosis. It was shown that the village-drinking water was contaminated with sewage. No S. typhi was isolated from the drinking water since it was previously disinfected. Maintenance of drinking water supply system, individual chloride usage and education were recommended, as safety cushions.