The Zika virus is spread by the Aedes mosquito, like dengue. Infection during pregnancy can result in babies with small heads – a condition called microcephaly – and other brain defects.
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According to a joint release from NEA and the Ministry of Health (MOH) on August 28, 36 foreign workers tested positive for the Zika virus on August 28, of whom seven are still warded at the Communicable Diseases Centre. “Australia’sDepartment of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Taiwan’sCenters for Disease Control said on their respective websites that pregnant women should defer nonessential travel to Singapore and adopt additional measures to protect themselves from mosquito bites”. “They were not suspected to have Zika, because they have no travel history and so on”, Health Minister Gan Kim Yong told local news website TODAYonline.
“Avoid being bitten by mosquitoes”.
The outbreak come as the tourism industry in one of the world’s busiest travel hubs already faces weak global economic growth.
“So now, Singapore flights will be among those to be closely monitored for Zika symptomatics”, she said.
The disease was detected in Brazil a year ago, and has spread to the US.
Unlike the first case of Zika to emerge in Singapore in May, these 41 patients had not travelled to Zika-infected areas recently so they were likely to have been infected in Singapore.
Malaysia, which shares a border with Singapore, Monday announced an increase of precautionary measures such as thermal scanners to detect fever at major entry points in the state of Johor and various airports, reported The Straits Times.
Online retailer Lazada Singapore said on Tuesday it has seen sales of mosquito repellent and other deterrent products rise fivefold over the past three days compared to a week ago. FairPrice supermarkets and Watsons pharmacies said their sales of such products had doubled.
A Stop Work Order (SWO) was issued to the construction site on 27 August, as the housekeeping of the construction site was found to be “unsatisfactory with potential mosquito breeding habitats”.
On its website, the United Kingdom government’s foreign travel advice for travelling to Singapore was to advise women who are pregnant or planning to conceive to discuss their travel plans with their doctors.
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The Chinese and Myanmar embassies in Singapore said they had not been notified by Singapore whether their citizens were among those infected.
