Malaysia’s health ministry has increased monitoring at the two main entry points to Johor, a day after Singapore reported its first locally-transmitted case of the Zika virus.
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In a statement today Singapore’s National Environment Agency said it expected to confirm more cases in the coming days.
Among those still hospitalized is a 47-year-old Malaysian woman, identified by authorities as the first locally transmitted case.
“They are not known to have travelled to Zika-affected areas recently, and are thus likely to have been infected in Singapore”, the Ministry said.
The cases include 36 foreign construction workers employed at a site in Aljunied, in the southeast of the island, the Straits Times newspaper and Channel News Asia television reported.
Thirty-six of those infected are foreign laborers working at a construction site in the area, according to the statement.
Of the 41, 34 of them have fully recovered while seven are recovering at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, said MOH and NEA in a joint statement on Aug 28.
Zika causes only mild symptoms for most people, such as fever and a rash. Infection during pregnancy can result in babies with small heads – a condition called microcephaly – and other brain defects.
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Malaysia is vulnerable to the infection given that Aedes mosquitoes could carry the virus, he said.
