The 58-year-old tested positive for Zika in her urine after she developed a rash a week after her return from Singapore, Malaysia’s health ministry said.
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The source of infection is suspected to occur in Singapore since the patient had started experiencing signs of Zika infection on the same day with her daughter in Singapore. The pregnant woman displayed mild symptoms of the virus and was taken to KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital.
Singapore authorities say 115 people have now tested positive for the virus, including a pregnant woman and 57 foreigners living and working in the city-state. However, the patient’s blood test result is still pending.
Despite the rise in Zika cases, a spokesman for the Singapore Grand Prix told AFP Wednesday the Formula One race will go on as scheduled from September 16-18.
Several countries have warned pregnant women or those trying to conceive to avoid traveling to Singapore.
Ooi explained that the Zika virus’ rapid spread in Singapore was likely down to its similarities with the dengue virus. However, Dr. Charity Dean, a county health officer, said there is no risk for contracting Zika in Santa Barbara County. Besides Indonesia, the United States, Australia, Taiwan and South Korea have also issued travel warnings to Singapore due to the emergence of many Zika virus cases. Proactive action from the community can help stop the spread of Zika virus in Malaysia. Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam have reported cases that were either transmitted locally or brought into the country, according to the Singapore ministry.
Zika is carried by mosquitoes, which transmit the virus to humans, though a small number of cases of sexual transmission of the virus have been reported in the Americas.
Most of the initial cases were among the hundreds of thousands of foreign workers, drawn mainly from the Asian sub-continent, who work on Singapore’s construction sites and in the marine sector.
“Over time, we expect Zika cases to emerge from more areas”, Singapore’s health minister, Gan Kim Yong, said. The most common symptoms of the virus are fever, joint pain, rash, conjunctivitis or red eyes, headache, and muscle pain, according to the CDC.
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While some pharmaceutical companies are reportedly working on it, according to the World Health Organization, there is now no treatment or vaccine for Zika.
