British troops have parachuted onto a remote archipelago in the South Atlantic to deliver aid to a person with a possible case of hantavirus, Britain’s government said on Sunday.
The rare operation came about a month after the MV Hondius — a cruise ship at the center of a deadly hantavirus outbreak — visited the islands, which are collectively known as Tristan da Cunha, one of Britain’s most remote overseas territories.
The team, which includes six paratroopers and two military clinicians, flew thousands of miles “to deliver critical medical support,” the British government said in a statement.
British health authorities have said that a British resident of the islands, who had disembarked from the cruise ship there, was suspected of having hantavirus.
“This was an extraordinary operation in incredibly challenging circumstances to get vital help to our citizens,” Al Carns, Britain’s armed forces minister, said in a statement.
Oxygen supplies on the islands had reached a “critical level,” the British government said, adding that it had dropped “vital oxygen supplies and other medical aid.”
There are no targeted treatments for hantavirus, so the primary treatment is supportive care, including things like supplemental oxygen.
Such support is difficult to come by in Tristan da Cunha, located roughly midway between Africa and South America. There are just two medical personnel for the 221 inhabitants. Lacking an airstrip, it is usually accessible only by boat, according to the British authorities.
“An airdrop with medical personnel was the only method of getting vital care to the patient in time,” the British government said.
The team of paratroopers flew more than 4,000 miles from a military base in England to Ascension, another tiny island where the MV Hondius had stopped, then continued for almost 2,000 miles to Tristan da Cunha.
Other Britons who traveled on the ship were being evacuated to Britain via a chartered flight after reaching the Canary Islands on Sunday. None have reported symptoms, but they are being closely monitored and will isolate for 45 days, the British authorities said.
Amelia Nierenberg is a Times reporter covering international news from London.
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