Singapore yesterday sent teams armed with protective suits, fogging machines and insecticide to wage war on mosquitoes after the discovery of dozens of Zika infections sparked alarm in the city-state.
Inspectors from the Singaporean National Environment Agency checking for mosquito breeding sites visited homes in the suburban district where 41 cases were reported over the weekend, including 36 involving foreign workers at a condominium construction project.
Work was halted at the site on Saturday after authorities found that housekeeping was “unsatisfactory, with potential breeding habitats” for mosquitoes.
Nearly all 41 have recovered, but five more suspected cases were yesterday reported by a clinic, local media said.
The five, who include foreign workers, were undergoing further tests at Singapore’s Communicable Diseases Centre.
Singapore, despite having the highest healthcare standards in Southeast Asia, is a densely populated tropical island with frequent rain. Mosquitoes breed in stagnant water that collects in construction areas, open space and homes.
It is also one of Asia’s cleanest cities, but has a chronic problem with dengue fever, which is spread by the same Aedes aegypti mosquito that carries the Zika virus.
Zika causes only mild symptoms for most people, such as fever and a rash, and has been detected in 58 countries, particularly Brazil.
However, in pregnant women, it can cause microcephaly, a deformation in which babies are born with abnormally small brains and heads.
Singapore’s first reported case of Zika in May involved a man who had visited Sao Paulo, Brazil, earlier in the year.
However, all of the latest cases involved local transmission.
Inspectors armed with insecticide spray cans visited high-rise public housing to check toilets and other areas for stagnant water.
Owners of homes found with such sites can be fined up to S$5,000 (US$3,673).
Contractors in protective gear carried out insecticide fogging in public places, pumping a mosquito-killing mist over large areas.
Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control yesterday issued a travel alert for Singapore.
The agency said pregnant women or women who are planning to get pregnant are advised to postpone traveling to areas where Zika is actively spreading.
The agency has issued travel alerts for 58 countries or territories where Zika is spreading, including Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and Singapore.
Women who have visited the areas should delay getting pregnant for at least two months, men should avoid sex or use a condom for at least two months after returning from the areas and people who suffer from Zika-like symptoms after having visited the areas are advised to avoid sex or use a condom for at least six months, the agency said.
All travelers to the areas should take measures to avoid mosquito bites and report to airport quarantine stations or doctors if they think they might be infected with the Zika virus, it added.
Additional reporting by Lee I-chia
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