Most of
those tested for Zika were contract laborers from elsewhere in Southeast Asia.
Singapore
authorities have confirmed 41 cases of locally-transmitted Zika virus, which in
Brazil has been linked to a rare birth defect, and said more cases were
expected to be identified.
Those
infected include 36 foreign construction workers employed at a site near
Aljunied in the southeast of the island, the health ministry and the National
Environment Agency (NEA) said in a joint statement on Sunday.
On
Saturday, authorities had confirmed Singapore’s first case of a local
transmission of the virus, to a 47-year-old Malaysian woman, also from the
Aljunied area.
“MOH (the
ministry of health) cannot rule out further community transmission in Singapore
since some of those tested positive also live or work in other parts of
Singapore,” the statement said. “We expect to identify more positive cases.”
The
authorities said they have tested 124 people, primarily construction workers.
Seventy-eight tested negative and five cases were pending. Thirty-four patients
have fully recovered. It was not immediately clear where the foreign workers
were from, but Singapore hosts a large contingent of workers from the Asian
sub-continent.
“All the
cases are residents or workers in the Aljunied Crescent/Sims Drive area. They
are not known to have traveled to Zika-affected areas recently, and are thus
likely to have been infected in Singapore. This confirms that local
transmission of Zika virus infection has taken place,” the statement said.
Dozens of
NEA staff cleaned drains and sprayed insecticide in the mainly residential area
early on Sunday, and volunteers and contractors handed out leaflets and insect
repellent. The NEA workers had accessed more than 1,800 premises of a total of
6,000 in the area to check for mosquito breeding.
Local
residents welcomed the clean-up.
“I’m very
scared of mosquitoes because they always seem to bite me, they never bite my
husband,” Janice, 31, who gave only her first name, told Reuters. “This
concerns me because maybe in a couple of years I want to have another (child).”
Zika was
detected in Brazil last year and has since spread across the Americas. The
virus poses a risk to pregnant women because it can cause severe birth defects.
It has been linked to more than 1,600 cases of microcephaly in Brazil.
The
Singapore government said there were “ongoing local transmission” cases in
Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. Other countries in the region to have detected
the Zika virus since 2013 include Bangladesh, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia,
Maldives and the Philippines, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Malaysia
said on Sunday it stepped up surveillance at main transit points with
Singapore.
Health
director-general Noor Hisham Abdullah said leaflets on Zika prevention were
being handed out and paramedics were at entry points to handle visitors with
potential symptoms.
As of
this month, Malaysia said it has screened more than 2 million visitors at air,
sea and land entrances, and found no Zika infections.
In
Thailand, where close to 100 cases of Zika have been recorded across 10
provinces this year, the Department of Disease Control (DDC) was screening all
athletes returning from the Olympic Games in Brazil, but was not otherwise
changing its prevention measures.
“Every
country in this region has Zika transmission cases,” said Prasert Thongcharoen,
an adviser to the DDC. “Thailand has, however, managed to contain the problem
through early detection.”
Indonesian
foreign ministry spokesman Armanatha Nasir said the country was “following
developments”. Oskar Pribadi, a health ministry official, said there have been
no recent Zika cases.
Vietnam
has to date reported three cases of locally-transmitted Zika infection.
The
current strain of Zika that is sweeping through Latin America and the Caribbean
originated in Asia, where people could have built up greater immunity.
U.S.
health officials have concluded that Zika infections in pregnant women can
cause microcephaly, a birth defect marked by small head size that can lead to
severe developmental problems.
The WHO
has said there is strong scientific consensus that Zika can also cause
Guillain-Barre, a rare neurological syndrome that causes temporary paralysis in
adults.
Reuters
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