Eighteen British medical personnel serving with a field hospital in Afghanistan have been taken ill with an unidentified disease, the commander of the British forces said.
Two of the most seriously ill have been flown out of Afghanistan, one to Britain and the other to an American hospital in Germany, Brigadier Roger Lane told reporters.
Mr Lane said the illness, which surfaced three days ago with bouts of vomiting and diarrhea, appeared contagious. As a result, all 350 personnel working at 34 field hospital have been quarantined.
The field hospital is located at Bagram, the headquarters of the US-led coalition now seeking to wipe out remnants of the al Qaeda and Taliban in the Afghan countryside.
"We believe it is some kind of enteric fever, but we are yet to establish that," Lane said.
Britain has 1,700 Royal Marines in Afghanistan. None of the other coalition troops, including from the United States and Canada, have reported any illness.