Singapore battles Zika mosquitoes
Hospitals ‘vigilant’ as virus spreads locally
SINGAPORE: Officials armed with protective suits and insecticide spray cans went door-to-door in Singapore yesterday to wipe out mosquitoes after the discovery of 41 locally transmitted cases of Zika virus alarmed the city-state.
Inspectors from the National Environment Agency (NEA) visited homes in the suburban district where all the cases — mostly foreign construction workers — were reported, to check for potential breeding sites.
The NEA said that at this point the community transmission of the virus appears to be localised within the Aljunied Crescent and Sims Drive area, which hosts high-rise residential blocs and some industries.
As neighbouring countries took steps to prevent the spread of the disease from Singapore, officers also carried out insecticide fogging operations in the district.
Zika causes only mild symptoms for most people, such as fever and a rash, and has been detected in 58 countries, particularly Brazil.
But in pregnant women, it can cause microcephaly, a deformation in which babies are born with abnormally small brains and heads.
Singapore, a densely populated tropical island with frequent rain, has a chronic problem with dengue, which is spread by the same Aedes mosquito that transmits Zika through bites from an infected person to another human.
The health ministry said it has alerted clinics and hospitals to be “extra vigilant” and report patients with symptoms associated with the virus, mainly fever and rash.
Health Minister Gan Kim Yong told local media more imported cases are likely because Singapore is an international travel hub.
Inspectors checked toilets and other areas for stagnant water that could help mosquitos breed.
Owners of homes found with sites that can contribute to mosquito breeding can be fined up to Sg$5,000 (about 127,000 baht).
Contractors also carried out insecticide fogging in public places, pumping a mosquito-killing mist over large areas on the ground.
The government on Sunday confirmed the 41 cases, of whom 36 are foreigners working at a condominium construction site.
Work was halted at the site on Saturday after an inspection by environment agency officers discovered that housekeeping was “unsatisfactory with potential breeding habitats favourable to mosquito breeding”, the statement added.
Singapore hosts thousands of foreign construction workers, most of them from South Asia.
A day after announcing its first locally transmitted case, that of a 47-year-old Malaysian woman, t he government reported 40 more.
The 41 “are not known to have travelled to Zika-affected areas recently, and are thus likely to have been infected in Singapore”, the statement said.
“This confirms that local transmission of Zika virus infection has taken place.”
Health officials said the current infections came to light after a local clinic on Aug 22 reported an unusual rise in viral fever.
This prompted a check by health ministry experts, who told doctors to refer new cases to the government-run Communicable Diseases Centre.
The statement said 34 of the total number infected have fully recovered while the other seven, who are still symptomatic and potentially infectious, remain in hospital.
Singapore in May reported its first imported Zika case, a 48-year-old male Singapore resident who had travelled to Sao Paulo in Brazil earlier in the year.