Brisbane doctors have identified the rare bacterial infection that led to the death of an Iranian asylum seeker in the Australian Government’s care.
Hamid Khazaei, 24, died in a Brisbane hospital last month after his leg became infected on Manus Island.
The infection was caused by a bacteria called chromobacterium violaceum, which can aggressively attack internal organs after entering the bloodstream, Lateline can reveal.
The bacteria is found in soil and stagnant water. The infection is rare with only about 200 reported cases in the world since the 1920s.
A man who said he was a former Manus Island detainee, Ali Mesbahi, told Lateline asylum seekers were told to be vigilant about covering up cuts to prevent infections in the tropical environment.
Mr Mesbahi said Mr Khazaei had applied a bandage to a wound on his leg a month before he died.
“He said that I think that something cut my leg and something like infection,” said Mr Mesbahi, who chose to return to Iran.
Doctors were unavailable to assess Mr Khazaei’s worsening condition because they were booked out, Mr Mesbahi said, and it was only after asylum seekers alerted a security officer that the Iranian was placed in medical isolation.
After Mr Khazaei was airlifted from Manus Island, the asylum seekers were ordered to clean up their rooms to prevent any germs spreading.
“Wash your clothes again and wash all of your beds again because the infection may be staying in your room,” Ali Mesbahi said.
It took three days for the Iranian to be airlifted from Manus Island to hospitals in Port Moresby and finally Brisbane.
Khazaei laid to rest at packed funeral in Tehran
Mr Khazaei was laid to rest at a packed funeral in Iran’s capital Tehran last week.
His family are still in shock.
“He was a good kid. Everyone loved him,” his brother Mehdi Khazaei told Lateline from Tehran.
“[My mother] is very upset. She tries not to cry in front of us. My father is the same,” he said.
Hamid Khazaei’s death has raised questions about conditions at the Manus Island detention centre and whether doctors responded promptly to what appears to have started as an innocuous injury.
“We want to know, how was he diagnosed?” Mehdi Khazaei said.
“Did the doctors attend to him in time? Why has this happened to him?”
High-profile barrister Stephen Keim, who has previously acted for Mohamed Haneef, is now acting for the Khazaei family.
Lawyer Ruth Hudson, who is also representing the family, said an inquest by the Queensland Coroner would be critical for her clients
“I think it’s incredibly important that the truth is provided to the family so they can have some understanding of how this happened,” Ms Hudson said.
The Immigration Department’s chief medical officer will conduct a clinical review of the medical care provided to Mr Khazaei by contractor International Health and Medical Services (IHMS).
IHMS is also carrying out an internal review but a spokeswoman said “it would be improper for IHMS to contribute any comments or speculate as to the details surrounding this tragedy until these reviews and investigations have been completed”.
Immigration Minister Scott Morrison declined to comment ahead of a coronial inquest to be held at a later date.