Singapore health authorities said on Saturday that 26 new cases of locally transmitted Zika virus in Singapore has been confirmed, bringing the total number of cases to 215.
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Regionally, the Zika outbreak has also been reported in Thailand and Malaysia.
“This is disappointing but not surprising”, Florida agriculture commissioner Adam Putnam said in a statement Thursday.
The state has already seen more than 150 people test positive for Zika, with two pregnant women amongst them.
Expectant mothers, however, must take extra precautions since Zika virus infection is associated with microcephaly, a physical and neurological birth defect, said the news portal.
Infection caused by the Zika virus results in mild or no symptoms in patients in many cases.
World Health Organization officials said studies would continue to figure out why certain regions of Brazil have reported an increase in babies born with microcephaly, a developmental disorder that causes smaller-than-average heads.
The committee said that future research should focus on sexual transmission of Zika, and particularly on how long someone is at risk spreading it sexually after getting infected.
“Over time, we expect Zika cases to emerge from more areas”, Singapore’s Minister for Health Gan Kim Yong said in a statement on Wednesday.
So far this year, the DOH said five Zika patients have been reported in the country, four tourists and a Filipino national.
The committee also reaffirmed its previous advice that there should be no general restrictions on travel and trade with countries, areas and / or territories with Zika virus transmission, including the cities in Brazil that will be hosting the Paralympic Games.
The connection between Zika and microcephaly first came to light previous year in Brazil, which has since confirmed more than 1,800 cases of microcephaly.
Zika can prove especially risky for pregnant women and their fetuses.
“I’m not going to let her go outside much until Zika dies down”, said Nat Bumatay, a self-employed mother, of her six-year-old daughter Sunshine. Through this collaboration, CDC and INS hope to better understand the full range of potential health problems after Zika virus infection in pregnancy.
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The United States and Britain have joined Australia and Taiwan in advising pregnant women to avoid non-essential travel to Singapore, while a local health expert has warned the infection rate would rise.
