British Army medics have parachuted onto the remote Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha to help a British national with suspected hantavirus.
The man left MV Hondius, the cruise ship hit by a deadly outbreak of the virus, in mid-April at Britain’s most remote inhabited overseas territory, where he lives.
He first reported symptoms two weeks after leaving the vessel and is said be in a stable condition while isolating. Six cases of the virus have now been confirmed, including of two other Britons currently being treated off the ship.
Oxygen was also dropped from an RAF A400M on Saturday, with supplies at a “critical level” on the island, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said.
Three people have died in the outbreak, including two who were confirmed to have had hantavirus.
Hantavirus is a group of viruses carried by rodents. Most hantaviruses do not pass from person to person, but the Andes strain, identified in a number of people who had been on the Dutch cruise ship, does.
The British man who lives on Tristan da Cunha disembarked on 14 April, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.
He reported having diarrhoea on 28 April and fever two days later. He is currently in a stable condition and is in isolation.
A team of six paratroopers and two medical clinicians from 16 Air Assault Brigade parachuted on to Tristan da Cunha – an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean considered to be among the world’s most remote islands – having flown from RAF Brize Norton.
Two of the paratroopers jumped in tandem with an intensive care nurse and intensive care doctor, who will provide help to the island, which usually has a two-person medical team.
This is the first time the UK military has parachuted in medical personnel to provide humanitarian support, according to the MoD.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “This extraordinary operations reflects our unwavering commitment to the people of our overseas territories and to British nationals, wherever they are.
“The safety and well-being of all members of the British family is our number one priority.”
Tristan da Cunha, which has a population of 221, has no airstrip and can only be reached by boat. Average winds are often over 25mph, causing difficult conditions for the paratroopers, the MoD said.
Minister for the Armed Forces Al Carns said there had been “incredibly challenging circumstances”.
“I want to pay a huge tribute to our brave personnel for carrying out their task with the utmost professionalism and composure under pressure,” he added.
Ministry of DefenceThe WHO has confirmed that as well as the six confirmed cases, there are two with suspected hantavirus, which includes the British man on Tristan da Cunha.
The two British nationals with confirmed cases of the virus are being treated in the Netherlands and South Africa.
No other British nationals who remained on board the Hondius had reported symptoms but are being monitored, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said.
Meanwhile two Britons are voluntarily self-isolating at home in the UK, having disembarked the vessel at St Helena on 24 April before the first case of hantavirus was confirmed.
The remaining 22 British passengers are due to fly home from Tenerife on a charter flight.
They will be taken to Arrowe Park Hospital in Wirral, Merseyside, to isolate for 45 days. They will be monitored by the UKHSA and tested as needed.
The risk to the general public remains very low, the MoD said.
