WELLINGTON -- New Zealand health authorities say one woman has died from typhoid fever and at least 14 other people have been hospitalised.
The bacterial disease is most common in developing countries. Health Minister Jonathan Coleman said Tuesday someone who traveled to the Pacific Islands apparently contracted the disease there then spread it to others in New Zealand.
Health authorities said all those infected are members of a Pacific church in Auckland, the Samoan Assembly of God. Authorities said the woman who died last week had other serious health issues and that typhoid fever was a complicating factor.
The disease can be contracted by eating food or drinking water handled by somebody who has the disease, or when contaminated sewage comes into contact with drinking water.