A typhoid suspected in Manus "appalling"

An alleged outbreak of life-threatening typhoid fever affects asylum seekers and refugees detained on the island of Manus.

Two men were transferred from the island, which formerly housed a detention center run by Australia, to the Port Moresby Hospital, sources said.

"Yesterday, maintenance teams cleaned up their premises to prevent the virus from spreading," Shamindan Kanapadhi, 27, wrote on Thursday.

"Keeping men confined to camps devoid of basic hygiene and depriving them of proper medical support can easily lead to this situation."

The Sri Lankan Tamil refugee reiterated his call for the closure of the camps.

Another refugee, Behnam Satah, said people were showing symptoms in three camps on the island.

"Some people have already been diagnosed with typhoid and their rooms have been sterilized," he told AAP Friday at Manus.

"We have 15 to 20 people who do not feel well and who have signs of typhoid, such as high fever, vomiting and bloody diarrhea."

Satah said those patients should wait for tests at the Port Moresby hospital at Easter.

The letter from a doctor from the Isle of Manus dated April 16 – consulted by the AAP – indicates that the diagnosis made for a refugee was an "alleged case of typhoid". This suggests that he needs to be isolated and treated.

The Australian government issued a brief statement on Good Friday.

"This is an issue that concerns the Papua-New Guinea government," said a spokesman for the Department of Home Affairs at AAP.

The ministry said Canberra has provided funds to help PNG and the Nauruan governments provide "offshore health services".

Father Rod Bower, a declared Anglican preacher, said the epidemic would have shown that the federal government had not taken care of ex-inmates.

"All deaths on Manus have been avoided since the beginning," Father Bower told AAP on Friday.

The timing of the alleged outbreak was particularly damning, added the Gosford-based Christian leader.

"Good Friday is about exposing the mechanism of the scapegoat for the trial and execution of Jesus," he said.

"Our treatment of refugees is precisely the same dynamic. A small group of people is considered a scapegoat for political purposes, but we still do not understand the message.

"If we want to restore our compbadion and decency, we have to move people away from Manus and Nauru."

Typhoid infects up to 20 million people each year and causes up to 160,000 deaths a year, according to the World Health Organization.

The disease causes prolonged fever, fatigue, pain, diarrhea and rashes. It can be fatal if it is not treated with antibiotics.

It is spread by contaminated food and water and can be prevented by vaccines.

Refugee advocates claim that unhealthy conditions in the Manus Island camps have contributed to the epidemic.

"Such an epidemic will occur only in conditions of prolonged misery and neglect," said an activist, Anthea Falkenberg, in a statement.