Typhoid Outbreak on Manus Island

Refugees on Manus Islands have been afflicted by an outbreak of typhoid fever. Two men diagnosed with the potentially fatal disease were flown to Port Moresby for treatment.

General Secretary of the Catholic Bishops Conference of PNG, Giorgio Licini said they have established the typhoid fever and were moving fast. A suspected case of the illness is affecting other men in all three refugee detention centres on the island. A Sri Lankan refugee confirmed that two men from Bangladesh and Pakistan were diagnosed at the island's Lorengau Hospital. Their rooms, at West House and Hillside House were immediately contained to avoid contagion. Father Licini said food given to the men in the three camps was prepared in different kitchens but all were supplied with water from the same river. "I personally suspect this has come from water, not the drinking water which is separate but shower water." He was told in the Lorengau provincial hospital that they had run out of the equipment necessary to do the test so he was sent back to his place.

"It may not be out of control but if it is a larger problem of contaminated water it is better to take things seriously, typhoid fever is not something to be underestimated," the priest said. "I had it myself years ago. I remember the symptoms and treatment had to be punctual and fast in the hospital." The inflicted men's symptoms include a high fever and headache, with body and joint pains, vomiting and bloody diarrhoea.

Meanwhile, people have raised concerns that keeping men confined in camps lacking basic hygiene can easily lead to this situation. The Australian government has said that this is a matter for the government of Papua New Guinea. The Home Affairs Department said it provided funding to help the PNG government provide 'offshore health services'.