The Zika virus behind an outbreak in Singapore likely evolved from a strain which was already circulating in South-East Asia, scientists here have found out.
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An individual in Mt. Juliet has tested positive for the Zika virus following travel to an area where active mosquito transmission of the virus is now taking place and travel advisories have been issued, according to the Mt. Juliet Police Department.
Singapore will no longer isolate people who test positive for Zika or are suspected of carrying it as the number of cases of the mosquito-borne virus increases across the city-state, the health ministry said on Monday.
With authorities in Florida recently confirming that mosquitoes in the Miami area are spreading the Zika virus locally, it is good news to many states that their mosquito seasons are winding down, including North Carolina’s. Infected women and men can both pass the virus to sex partners – even if they haven’t shown symptoms of infection.
Given that the virus has been detected in this country, more Zika cases are expected if no precaution measures are taken by the community and the people, said the ministry.
Singapore’s Ministry of Health (MOH) is reviewing the practice of isolating potential Zika-infected patients, a senior official said on Sunday.
“Over time, we expect Zika cases to emerge from more areas”, Singapore’s Minister for Health Gan Kim Yong said in a statement on Wednesday.
This is because a small proportion of infected pregnant women have given birth to babies with abnormally small heads, so the holy grail would be to develop drugs or vaccines that can stop it.
Three days ago, Malaysia reported its first Zika infection – a woman living near Kuala Lumpur who contracted the virus during a visit to Singapore. Common symptoms include fever, skin rash, joint pains and conjunctivitis.
The virus has also been linked to a rare nervous system disorder, Guillain-Barre syndrome.
Dr. David Heymann, the committee’s chair, said considerable gaps remain in understanding Zika and the complications it causes – including brain-damaged babies – and World Health Organization concluded that the outbreak remains a global emergency.
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Zika was first identified in Uganda in 1947 and was unknown in the Americas until 2014.
