YICHANG, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- A recent typhoid fever outbreak affecting 81 students in a middle school in central China's Hubei Province was controlled, local authorities said Friday.

    Eight-one students from Bajiao Middle School in the Bajiao Township of Tong Minority were hospitalized Sunday afternoon. All of them, aged between 13 and 15, suffered sustained fever, headache and diarrhea, Xiang Shilian, vice mayor of Enshi City, told the press conference.

    Sixty-three of them were confirmed as typhoid fever cases as of10 a.m. Friday. They are now in stable condition after treatment in the Central Hospital of Enshi.

    Local medical staff started to control the outbreak immediately after the cases were found. All the patients were treated for free and the rest of the students received vaccinations to prevent the disease, Xiang said.

    "Classes go on as normal and the society is stable."

    Typhoid fever is transmitted by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with feces from infected people.