Singapore’s Ministry of Health (MOH) announced over the weekend 41 locally transmitted Zika cases and 15 more cases were confirmed on Monday.
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The Australian government has warned pregnant women to defer non-essential travel to Singapore as the number of confirmed cases of Zika virus in the city state rose to 82 on Tuesday, with some of the latest infections detected beyond the area of the initial outbreak.
But in pregnant women, Zika can cause microcephaly, a deformation in which babies are born with abnormally small brains and heads. Both countries have introduced measures, such as the placement of thermal scanners at border checkpoints and airports, to prevent the entry of the infection to their territories following the outbreak in Singapore. “Given that the majority of Zika cases are asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic, and mosquitoes in the affected areas may already have been infected, isolation of positive cases may have limited effect in managing the spread”, a statement from the Health Ministry said.
Meanwhile, Singapore’s Tourism Board said Singapore remained a “safe travel destination”.
More than 55 million people pass through Singapore’s Changi airport every year.
Singapore’s first reported case of Zika in May involved a man who had visited Sao Paulo in Brazil earlier in the year.
The department’s Assistant Secretary Charles Jose said they have instructed their embassy personnel in Singapore to “immediately issue an advisory to the Filipino community to take precautionary measure to minimize the risk of being infected with the deadly virus”.
Online retailer Lazada Singapore said on Tuesday it has seen sales of mosquito repellent and other deterrent products rise fivefold over the past three days compared to a week ago.
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The Singapore government has not said where the infected foreign workers are from. The foreign ministry directed queries to the health ministry, which did not respond to Reuters questions on the issue. Officials sprayed insecticide in the area and removed any potential breeding ground for disease-carrying mosquitoes, such as stagnant water or moist dirt in abandoned drains.
