Two more workers were confirmed by MOH at noon on Monday (August 29) to have contracted the virus, bringing the total number of affected workers to 38. It has been linked in Brazil to more than 1,600 cases of microcephaly, where babies are born with abnormally small heads and brains.
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At least five of 26 new cases confirmed late on Tuesday were detected outside the initial cluster in the Aljunied area in the southeast of Singapore, the health ministry and National Environment Agency (NEA) said in a joint statement.
As of Thursday, there had been 69 cases of the Zika virus reported in Virginia – none caused by a bite from an infected mosquito here but instead happening to people who traveled to areas where the virus is prevalent, such as Mexico, Central America and South America.
The virus has been detected in several Asian countries, including Bangladesh, Malaysia and the Philippines, according to the World Health Organization.
Hong Kong confirmed its first case of Zika on Friday, in a woman who had traveled to the Caribbean.
The Zika virus poses a risk to pregnant women because it can cause severe birth defects. “Spraying will reduce transmission, but it may not eliminate the virus”, he said.
Outbreaks of Zika virus disease have been recorded in Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific.
Malaysian Health Minister Subramaniam Sathasivam said travelers who enter Johor Bahru, where up to 200,000 people commute daily to and from Singapore, will go through thermal screening at border checkpoints.
Rebeckah Martin, a resident who moved onto Buena Vista last month, said she and her roommates were mostly concerned about whether the spraying would affect the four dogs in their home, but firefighters who came by homes Saturday with permission slips said there was nothing to fear.
Most of those affected were foreign workers at a condominium construction project.
Several countries advised pregnant women or those trying to conceive to avoid travelling to the city-state.
CDC principal deputy director Anne Schuchat described the Zika virus as unprecedented in that it can be spread both by mosquitoes and through sexual intercourse. Since local transmission of Zika was first confirmed in July, Florida officials have anxious it will negatively impact the state’s tourism industry.
A Stop Work Order (SWO) was issued to the construction site on 27 August, as the housekeeping of the construction site was found to be “unsatisfactory with potential mosquito breeding habitats”.
“This is a virus that is not transmitted easily but there are risks the public should be aware about”, said Summer McGee, an associate professor in health care administration at the University of New Haven.
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Separately, Australia and Taiwan issued travel alerts to its citizens heading to Singapore. It will remain closed until the company rectifies the conditions that allowed mosquitoes to breed and steps up preventative measures, the health ministry said.
