Travel warnings as Zika spreads
Confirmed cases of Zika virus in Singapore rose to 82 yesterday, as the United States joined a growing list of countries warning pregnant women or those trying to get pregnant to avoid travel to the citystate.
The mosquito-borne virus, which has caused explosive outbreaks in the Americas and the Caribbean since late last year, poses a particular risk to pregnant women because it can cause microcephaly, where babies are born with abnormally small heads and underdeveloped brains.
The US yesterday warned pregnant women not to travel to Singapore, joining Australia, Taiwan and South Korea.
The warnings followed news that Zika transmission appears to be occurring outside of the original cluster. At least five of the 26 new cases confirmed yesterday were detected in the Aljunied area in the southeast of Singapore, the health ministry and National Environment Agency (NEA) said.
Singapore has advised pregnant women to take a free Zika test if they show any symptoms or if their partners test positive.
The outbreak and advisories come as the tourism industry in one of the world’s busiest travel hubs already faces weak global economic growth. Singapore’s Tourism Board said it was premature to consider any impact on the sector, adding Singapore remained a ‘‘safe travel destination’’.
Singapore reported its first case of locally-transmitted Zika last weekend, and the number of confirmed infections has risen steadily since then. At least three dozen patients have made a full recovery.
Neighbouring Malaysia and Indonesia have stepped up protective measures, introducing thermal scanners at airports and border checkpoints with the island state. Only one in five people have symptoms of the virus, which include fever, rash, joint pain and conjunctivitis.
Singapore residents have responded to government calls to be vigilant and to take precautions against mosquito bites.
Online retailer Lazada Singapore said sales of insect repellents jumped five-fold in the past three days. FairPrice supermarkets and Watsons pharmacies said their sales of such products had doubled.
Most of the early infections were among foreign workers, hundreds of thousands of whom, mainly from the Asian subcontinent, work on Singapore’s construction sites and in the marine sector.
The High Commission of Bangladesh, which represents the largest community of foreign workers, said none of those infected were Bangladeshis, and the Thai foreign ministry said none were from Thailand. The embassies of China, India, Sri Lanka and Myanmar said they had not been notified by Singapore whether their citizens were among those infected.