Is typhoid caused by a virus or bacteria?

Answer 1

Typhoid fever - also known simply as typhoid - is a common worldwide bacterial disease transmitted by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with the fecesof an infected person, which contain the bacterium Salmonella entericasubsp. enterica, serovar Typhi.

The disease has received various names, such as gastric fever, enteric fever, abdominal typhus, infantile remittant fever, slow fever, nervous fever, and pythogenic fever. The name typhoidmeans "resembling typhus" and comes from the neuropsychiatric symptoms common to typhoid and typhus.Despite this similarity of their names, typhoid fever and typhus are distinct diseases and are caused by different species of bacteria.

The occurrence of this disease fell sharply in the developed world with the rise of 20th-century sanitation techniques and antibiotics. In 2013 it resulted in about 161,000 deaths - down from 181,000 in 1990.