Also, the first case of a pregnant woman testing positive for the Zika virus has come to light in Singapore.
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“However, to protect patient’s privacy, Singapore’s Health Ministry only conveyed that the patient is a female”, Arrmanatha said in a weekly press conference at the Foreign Ministry’s Office in Jakarta on Thursday, September 1, 2016.
They also advised women with male partners confirmed to have Zika to get tested even if they don’t feel any symptoms of the virus and “regardless of whether they have been to Zika-affected areas”. More than 200,000 Malaysians are estimated to commute to and from Singapore every day.
The Singapore government informed the Indian authorities on Thursday about the mosquito-borne infection. “Very often we are not very successful in that because people do not allow our officers to enter into their houses – and a lot of breeding sites are within the houses themselves”. A pregnant woman was among the victims, they said.
The Zika virus, which presents few to no symptoms in those it infects, has been linked to severe brain defects and microcephaly in children born to women infected with the virus.
According to USA health officials, Zika infections can lead to microcephaly in pregnant.
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Foreign nationals including six Bangladeshis and 21 Chinese are among the 115 confirmed Zika infections in Singapore. It is reported that the virus has caused more than 1,800 microcephaly cases in Brazil since previous year. However it is unclear whether the affected Indians work in the construction industry. Authorities assured that Thailand is following worldwide health regulations and observing the World Health Organisation’s advice on the disease including implementing epidemiology surveillance, vector surveillance, birth-defect newborn surveillance, and nervous system adverse event surveillance. “We have to accept the fact that these people will be going to Singapore and coming on a daily basis, so I think the more practical method of dealing with that is to advise them to take precautions against mosquito bites”, said the minister. “Proactive action from the community can help stop the spread of Zika virus in Malaysia”. Efforts at vector control have failed to prevent the rise of dengue in Singapore, which last saw a surge in 2013.
