Typhoid fever cases grow on Manus Island

4:43 pm on 30 April 2019
Typhoid

Typhoid Photo: 123.rf

Two more refugees detained by Australia on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island have been diagnosed with typhoid fever.

The men from India and Bangladesh were flown to Port Moresby on Sunday for treatment.

Two other refugees with the contagious disease were transferred to the capital a week earlier.

The Sri Lankan refugee, Shaminda Kanapathi, said the Indian man shared a room at Hillside House with one of those diagnosed before Easter.

He said before being transferred, the man from Bangladesh was moved out of a room he shared with two others at the East Lorengau Transit Centre, to avoid contagion.

Typhoid fever is a potentially fatal illness, spread through contaminated food or water.

About 500 men remain in detention on Manus Island, where they've been held without trial since 2013.