‘And it was so, that the father of Publius lay sick of fevers and dysentery, to whom Paul entered in, and prayed, and laying his hands on him healed him.'
While they were there Paul learned that Publius' father was ill with intermittent fevers (plural) and dysentery and he went to his sick room and prayed, laying his hands on him and healing him. The power of the name of Jesus has come to Malta.
The prayer before the laying on of hands is mentioned in Acts 6:6. Here it was necessary so that a people who thought that Paul was a god would recognise the true source of healing power. The illness may have been Malta fever which in fact was passed on by the milk of Maltese goats.