Hantavirus: British Army was sent to Tristan da Cunha for the first time after fear of virus came to light<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nThe British Army deployed medical personnel to provide humanitarian aid for the first time.<\/p>\n
UK military paratroops have arrived with doctors and medical supplies in Britain’s most remote overseas territory, Tristan da Cunha, after a case of suspected hantavirus was confirmed, according to the Ministry of Defence.<\/p>\n
A team of six paratroopers and two military medics from 16 Air Assault Brigade jumped from an RAF A400M transport aircraft which flew 6,788 km (4,218 mi) from RAF Brize Norton airbase in Oxfordshire to Ascension Island and then 3,000 km south to Tristan da Cunha.<\/p>\n
Oxygen supplies and other medical aid were also sent with him on Saturday. The A400M was refueled mid-flight by a supporting RAF Voyager.<\/p>\n
The operation is the first time the UK military has deployed medical personnel to provide humanitarian aid via parachute jump, the Ministry of Defense said in a statement.<\/p>\n
The supplies were primarily destined for a British man, who UK health officials say was a passenger on a cruise ship hit by the hantavirus outbreak that stopped at the island between April 13 and 15.<\/p>\n
The World Health Organization (WHO) said the man reported symptoms of hantavirus on April 28 and is stable and in isolation.<\/p>\n
“With oxygen supplies on the island at critical levels, the airdrop with medical personnel was the only way to get critical care to the patient in a timely manner,” the Defense Ministry statement said.<\/p>\n
Tristan da Cunha, home to only about 200 people, is located midway between South Africa and South America. It is the world’s most remote inhabited island, more than 2,400 km and a six-day boat ride from its nearest inhabited neighbour, St Helena.<\/p>\n
It usually relies on a medical team of two for its health needs and is generally only accessible by boat, as it has no airstrip.<\/p>\n
Polymerase chain reaction PCR tests were first delivered by military plane to Ascension Island on May 7, where another British man from a cruise ship disembarked before being medically flown to South Africa.<\/p>\n
“The arrival of paratroopers, medical personnel and medical supplies from the sky has reassured the people of Tristan da Cunha with hope,” said Brigadier Ed Cartwright, Officer Commanding 16 Air Assault Brigade.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n