Malaria Outbreak Aboard an Australian Navy Ship in the Indian Ocean

Four sailors aboard HMAS Newcastle were infected with falciparum malaria during a port visit to Dar-esSalaam in Tanzania. All four were successfully treated at sea with oral atovaquone/proguanil. Besides their apparent non-adherence with the usual antimalarial precautions, the key aspects of this outbreak include a lack of on-board definitive diagnostic capability and treatment, both of which have since been addressed for other Fleet units. Although some Royal Australian Navy (RAN) deployments have lower malaria risk, this is not true for East Africa. All Australian Defence Force (ADF) medical officers need to be aware of falciparum malaria, as one of the few infections that can rapidly kill adults.