The British army carried out an exceptional operation above the Tristan da Cunha archipelago in the South Atlantic to rescue a man suspected of having Hantavirus. On Saturday, May 9, soldiers and medical equipment were parachuted into this British overseas territory that is inaccessible by plane, as reported by The Sun.
According to London, the health emergency left only one option. The oxygen reserves on the island were deemed critical and no aircraft could land there. “A medical personnel airdrop was the only way to provide vital care to the patient in time,” said the British Ministry of Defense.
Six parachutists and two military nurses from the 16th Airborne Brigade were sent with oxygen bottles and emergency equipment. The operation required a long journey from the UK, passing through Ascension Island and refueling in flight before reaching Tristan da Cunha, over 3,000 km away.
The patient had traveled aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship, which was hit by a Hantavirus outbreak. He had disembarked on the island during a stopover in mid-April. British health authorities announced that two confirmed cases had been added.
An “extraordinary operation”
This intervention is presented as “a first” by the British Ministry of Defense, which claims to have never before deployed medical personnel by parachute in a humanitarian mission.
The British Minister of Armed Forces, Al Carns, praised “an extraordinary operation in incredibly difficult circumstances” to provide emergency aid to the island’s inhabitants.
Tristan da Cunha has only 221 residents. Located about 2,800 kilometers from the South African coast, the island is virtually cut off from the rest of the world and relies on maritime connections for its supplies.
Meanwhile, several passengers of the MV Hondius have been repatriated to Europe. In France, five travelers were hospitalized after arriving at Le Bourget and placed in quarantine for 72 hours.
Hantavirus is a rare disease mainly transmitted by infected rodents. However, experts confirmed that the virus variant detected on the ship, the Andes Hantavirus, was a rare strain that can be transmitted from human to human with an incubation period of up to six weeks.
