The stepped up screening against the Zika virus came after Singapore confirmed 41 locally transmitted cases of the virus.
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Meanwhile, the authorities are stepping up efforts to control the mosquito population in the Aljunied Crescent and Sims Drive area as residents in Singapore’s first Zika cluster take precautions to keep the mozzies at bay.
The possibility of them contracting Zika was not raised, as most of these patients – a bulk of whom are foreign workers who worked at a construction site in the vicinity – had not travelled to countries with ongoing Zika outbreaks.
A traveller walks past an advisory on the Zika virus in Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
34 have fully recovered.
The discovery of so many cases of locally-transmitted Zika infection has sparked unhappiness and anxiety among Singaporeans, with many criticizing the government for not having detected the infections earlier. And four out of five patients do not develop any associated symptoms, which are rash, or joint and muscle pain. Moreover, he emphasized that the Zika virus, unlike Dengue fever which is also an Aedes mosquito-borne disease, can also be transmitted sexually.
Officials at the ministry said in a statement that the individuals diagnosed with Zika were “not known to have traveled to Zika-affected areas recently, and are thus likely to have been infected in Singapore”.
Exterminators accompanied by National Environment Agency (NEA) officers were seen carrying out fogging operations in the area on Monday morning.
Local residents welcomed the NEA clean-up on Sunday.
Other parts of Southeast Asia have reported dozens of cases of Zika, which in Brazil has been linked to thousands of suspected cases of microcephaly, a rare birth defect, but there are fears the true numbers are masked. “This concerns me because maybe in a couple of years I want to have another (child)”.
In a statement, the country’s health ministry said it can’t rule out the possibility of “further community transmission”.
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The Zika virus has been documented in several Asian countries since it first emerged in 1951, including Malaysia, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and Pakistan. “It has been reported that one to 10 per cent infected in the first two trimesters. the rest are alright”. The following day, she sought the advice of a general practitioner, who then referred her to Tan Tock Seng Hospital where she tested positive for Zika yesterday.
