You can contract it by eating food or drinking water contaminated by faeces. People infected with typhoid fever can infect others through contact with the hands, or from a water tap or door handle for example. The risk for travellers in most countries is very low with the exception of certain parts of the Indian subcontinent. People travelling under primitive circumstances run the greatest risk. It has emerged that the risk is higher for migrant travellers who return to visit their country of origin.