Singapore: Singapore has reported its first Zika case since March 2020.
According to the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) latest weekly infectious disease bulletin, the cases were reported during the week of 21-27 August this year.
CNA has contacted the Ministry of Health for more information.
According to National Environment Agency (NEA) data, 666 dengue cases were also reported during the same week.
Like dengue fever, Zika virus infection is primarily transmitted by Aedes aegypti. As of 29 August this year, Singapore had 194 active dengue outbreaks.
The NEA website also showed that there are now 75 dengue clusters identified as ‘red’. This indicates that each cluster has 10 or more cases of her.
There are currently no active Zika clusters as of Friday.
mosquito population
Populations of Aedes aegypti, the main vector of dengue fever, remained high in Singapore in July this year.
“High populations of Aedes aegypti, coupled with outbreaks of the previously rare DENV-3, are likely to keep dengue cases high in the coming months,” the agency said.
According to the MOH website, only one fifth of Zika infections have symptoms.
“Zika is generally a mild, self-limiting illness. Although rare, serious neurological complications and fetal abnormalities have been associated with Zika virus infection,” the ministry said, adding that vaccines and vaccines against the virus are available. He added that there are no specific antiviral drugs.
When symptoms appear, symptoms may include fever, rash, joint and muscle pain, headache, conjunctivitis, and hyperemia.
Symptoms usually appear within 3 to 12 days after being bitten by an infected Aedes aegypti mosquito and may last for 4 to 7 days.
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Zika outbreak a public health emergency in February 2016. The state of emergency was lifted in November of the same year.
Singapore reported its first imported case of Zika in May 2016, and its first domestic case a few months later in August. By the end of the year, more than 450 people had been infected.
In 2017, 67 Zika cases were confirmed, 3 of which were imported. According to MOH data, 1 case was reported in 2018 and 12 cases were reported in 2019.
The virus is associated with neurological disorders such as microcephaly, where babies are born with small heads due to abnormal brain development.
Zika virus is primarily transmitted by Aedes aegypti, but the WHO says it can be transmitted from mother to fetus during pregnancy, through sexual contact, blood and blood product transfusions, and organ transplants.
