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While we were preparing for our holiday parties and meals, it appears that Zac Efron‘s new TV show nearly became reality.
Last week, the 32-year-old actor contracted what is believed to be a typhoid or other bacterial infection while on the island country of Papua New Guinea, where he’s been filming the new Quibi series Killing Zac Efron, and was airlifted by emergency medical workers to an airport in Brisbane, Australia, where he was then transported to a private hospital, the Australian Sunday Telegraph newspaper reported.
The outlet said that Efron spent several days at the hospital and that doctors allowed him to travel home to the U.S. on Christmas Eve.
Killing Zac Efron, which was announced in November, sees Efron spending 21 days off the grid, ”deep into the jungles of a remote, dangerous island,” ”with nothing but basic gear, a guide partner and a will to survive.” The Sunday Telegraph said Efron fell ill while he was in the middle of filming the show.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the bacteria that causes typhoid fever, a life-threatening illness, can be found in contaminated water and food in Papua New Guinea. People who contract it can be treated with antibiotics. Vaccines are available.
Dr. Glenn McKay from the Medical Rescue Group told the Daily Telegraph that a team “retrieved a U.S. citizen in his 30s from PNG to Brisbane recently for medical attention in Australia,” and that he was “admitted to St Andrews War Memorial Hospital in a stable condition.” He declined to name the patient.