Mchinji — Typhoid Fever has hit Mchinji district with confirmed cases of at least 18 people who tested positive to the disease. Mchinji District Hospital Public Relations Officer Frank Kaphaso Nyasulu told Malawi News Agency (Mana) Monday that all registered cases are from Traditional Authority (T.A.) Zulu's area. He said last week the hospital took samples of blood of eight people from Kangwere Village where the outbreak was first reported and the other 10 from Sepo and Chibande villages in the area who were believed to have contracted the disease. "When we heard the rumours of the disease from the area we took samples of patients' blood for lab testing at Ludzi Mission Hospital where all the people tested positive, and they were treated immediately," he said. Nyasulu said when the hospital team visited the villages where the patients came from they discovered that the villages had poor hygiene and sanitation. "Out of the 35 houses we visited at Kangwere Village only 11 houses had toilets and the pit latrines are in a bad state," he added. Meanwhile the hospital is conducting sensitisation meetings in the area on the need for people to follow good hygiene practices to prevent the disease from spreading further. Among other things, the hospital is encouraging people to go for testing when they feel malaria symptoms saying typhoid symptoms are mistaken for Malaria.