Last week, Bernama reported the Singapore Health Ministry as saying that a 47-year-old Malaysian was likely infected in Singapore since she had not travelled to any countries affected by the Zika virus.
Advertisement
MEA official spokesperson Vikas Swarup in response to a Reuters query said that according to mission in Singapore, 13 Indian nationals have tested positive for Zika.
The pregnant woman who tested positive lives in the Aljunied area in Singapore’s southeast, where most previous cases have been detected.
In total, 115 cases have been reported in the country over the past few days, according to a joint briefing of the Ministry of Health and National Environment Agency.
He cited information obtained from Singapore’s ministry of health as showing that five Malaysians residing and working in the neighboring country were also confirmed as having been infected with Zika virus.
These included 13 Indian citizens, said a person at the Indian High Commission in Singapore.
“Over time, we expect Zika cases to emerge from more areas”. The doctors are closely monitoring her health and development of the baby. “It has all the genetic traits that would allow it to spread where dengue thrives – the virus can infect and spread through the same Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that spread dengue virus”, said Ooi.
The Brazos County Health Department received test results confirming the second case of travel-associated Zika virus infection in Brazos County.
Authorities have said in the past that none of those infected had recently traveled overseas to areas affected by the Zika virus. However, the Singapore government has not disclosed how numerous infected people are foreign workers. A pregnant woman was among the victims, they said.
“It could either be for the protection of the foreign workers, so that certain groups are not ostracized and identified as carriers of the virus, or to avoid drawing further attention to the poor living conditions”, she said.
Advertisement
Many people infected with Zika virus won’t have symptoms or will only have mild symptoms. A member of her family had earlier been diagnosed with Zika, Straitstimes reported.
