British Army medics have parachuted onto Tristan da Cunha, a British overseas territory in the South Atlantic, to treat a British man with suspected hantavirus. The man had been a passenger on the MV Hondius, a Dutch cruise ship at the centre of a deadly outbreak of the virus. He disembarked on 14 April and lives on the island permanently. He reported symptoms of diarrhoea on 28 April and developed a fever two days later. He is currently in a stable condition and in isolation.
Operation Details
As reported by the BBC, a team of six paratroopers and two medical clinicians from 16 Air Assault Brigade carried out the operation. Two of the paratroopers jumped in tandem with an intensive care nurse and an intensive care doctor. The RAF flew an A400M transport aircraft supported by an RAF Voyager from RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire to Ascension Island before continuing to Tristan da Cunha. Oxygen and 3.3 tonnes of medical supplies were also dropped onto the island as supplies had reached a critical level.
Challenges of the Mission
Tristan da Cunha has a population of 221 British citizens and no airstrip. It can normally only be reached by boat but that was not an option given the urgency of the medical situation. Brigadier Ed Cartwright who commands 16 Air Assault Brigade and coordinated the operation told the BBC, the jump was a really challenging technical operation because of high winds and the small size of the island. Average wind speeds above the island regularly exceed 25mph. The paratroopers were dispatched from the aircraft approximately five kilometres above the South Atlantic and had to turn in the wind, blow backwards over the island and land on its edge. Cartwright said the consequence of getting it wrong was ending up in the Atlantic. The team landed on the island's golf course. This is the first time the UK military has parachuted medical personnel in to provide humanitarian support according to the Ministry of Defence.
Hantavirus Outbreak Context
Three people have died in the hantavirus outbreak connected to the MV Hondius including two with confirmed cases of the virus. Six cases have now been confirmed in total. Two British nationals with confirmed hantavirus are being treated in the Netherlands and South Africa. The remaining 22 British passengers from the ship are due to fly home from Tenerife on a charter flight and will be taken to Arrowe Park Hospital in Wirral to isolate for 45 days where they will be monitored and tested as needed.
The World Health Organisation confirmed there are two additional suspected cases alongside the six confirmed ones. No other British nationals who remained on the ship have reported symptoms but are being monitored. Two Britons who disembarked at St Helena on 24 April before the first case was confirmed are voluntarily self-isolating at home in the UK. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the operation reflected Britain's commitment to the people of its overseas territories and to British nationals wherever they are in the world.
