Several People in Colorado Contracted Typhoid Fever After Eating at a Local Qdoba

Officials believe an infected food handler spread the disease.

Typhoid fever hasn't been a major threat to the United States since the early 1900s. But it became a harsh reality for three Colorado residents this summer, who contracted it from a food handler while eating at a local Qdoba restaurant, the Denver Post reports.

Typhoid fever is a life-threatening illness caused by Salmonella typhi bacteria in the bloodstream and in the intestines. Usually, people contract the disease from traveling in developing countries, where food and water can sometimes be contaminated with sewage or touched by a carrier of the disease. If you show symptoms, they typically include a high fever, headache, weakness, and gastrointestinal distress; sometimes you can develop a spotty pink rash on your skin.

"The fevers were so bad that when he had the fever, he would get a sharp shooting pain in his head and then it would go down the spine," Chelsea Incorvaia, the wife of one of the Colorado patients, told Fox 31 Denver. "We thought, is this a tumor? We just didn't know."

Some people can be carriers of the disease without showing symptoms (think of "Typhoid Mary"), and health officials suspect that was the case at the Colorado Qdoba. Two people were hospitalized, but all three people have fully recovered, since typhoid fever is treatable with antibiotics. There have been no reports of any sickness since mid-October, so officials see no reason to close the restaurant.


If you want to avoid typhoid fever, health officials advise you wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water before after using the bathroom and before eating and preparing food. If you're traveling to a developing country, you should get a vaccine beforehand. And if you think you have it, talk to your doctor, who can test your stool and blood for Salmonella typhi.

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