The Death in Paradise actor Tony Gardner contracted the Zika virus while filming the BBC1 crime series in the Caribbean, and the show’s crew could be part of a study into the disease.
Gardner, who has also appeared in The Thick of It and Fresh Meat, revealed he and other crew members could have made up “quite a lot” of the more than 250 people from the UK who are known to have caught the virus.
“Quite a lot of them, possibly, come from the group of people that go out to Guadeloupe for six months a year to film,” he said during a podcast hosted by comedian Sean Hughes.
He said contracting the virus was probably the result of being bitten by mosquitoes while sitting out at night drinking.
“In retrospect I should have been more aggressive with the repellant,” he said. “About a couple of hours before I flew out I got a rash. And then for a week I wasn’t particularly well with joint pain and swelling ... didn’t like the light … I just felt pretty rough actually.
“It’s not a problem for me because I’ve finished my family. It’s quite dangerous for people getting pregnant or men starting families.”
A Zika outbreak in Brazil in 2015 was linked to instances of the birth defect microcephaly, causing concern ahead of this year’s Rio Olympics, though doctors warned the risk to visitors was low. Women have been warned not to start a family for at least eight weeks after visiting areas affected by the virus.
Gardner, who trained as a doctor, said a friend who was an expert in communicable diseases was planning to carry out a study on the crew.
“Part of the study my friend’s hopefully going to do is talking about this and the symptoms and how long they last,” he said. “It’s an ongoing thing and a very newish disease.”
A spokeswoman for production company Red Planet Pictures said: “Information was provided on avoiding all mosquito-borne viruses and insect repellent was available on set at all times. Despite these precautions, a small number of the team were unwell after having been bitten.”
