ASYLUM seekers on Christmas Island will have to wait to be transferred to mainland Australia, after typhoid fever was detected on the island.

The Immigration Department has confirmed that two crew members on separate asylum boats have been diagnosed with typhoid, The Australian reports.

The Federal Government has stopped flights from the island to the mainland while the Immigration Department and health authorities investigate and try to contain the disease, according to the paper.

Typhoid is a bacterial disease that causes symptoms such as fever, headache, rash and vomiting.

The disease is rarely seen in Australia.

Christmas Island's deputy administrator, Catherine Wildermuth, told residents in a newsletter that the risk of typhoid being passed on the community was extremely low, The Australian reported.

Originally published as Typhoid detected on Christmas Island