More than 140 cases of typhoid have been reported in the Mabvuku-Tafara suburb of Harare, the Zimbabwean capital, up from 40 cases last week, state media and the Combined Harare Residents Association said.
The state-controlled Herald newspaper reported that five people have died with 37 hospitalized in the Beatrice Infectious Diseases Hospital.
The outbreak has prompted Harare City Council to order all food handlers to undergo medical tests.
Mabvuku-Tafara was hard hit by cholera during the 2008-2009 epidemic due to its perennial problems in securing supplies of clean water.
Combined Harare Residents Association Chairman Simbarashe Moyo said his organization fears that the disease could spread to other parts of the city and country if action is not taken.