Residences was cleared on mosquitoes as Zika expected to spread in Singapore
Forty one cases of Zika virus is already confirmed in the whole city-state of Singapore, forcing officials to make precautionary measure to prevent the virus from spreading.
On Saturday, the Health Ministry of Singapore confirmed the 41 cases of Zika virus was locally-transmitted.
After this, officials started to spray insecticide and cleared drains of stagnant water in residential areas in the city-state. They chose the areas which are high risk of further Zika infections.
Seven separate areas of Singapore were visited by workers to conduct the spraying . They were wearing fumigation masks while traveling through high-rise public housing estates.
They were inspecting plant pots closely, which may serves as the laying grounds of mosquitoes, as they sprayed insecticide via thermal fogging machines.
According to the health ministry of Singapore, the 41 people who are infected with Zika virus were either residents of the district of Aljunied or workers at a construction site owned by GuocoLand in the area.
Of the total 41 people known to have been infected by the virus, 34 have already fully recovered.
“We expect to identify more positive cases,” the ministry said on Monday in its latest update on the virus in the city-state.
“Given that the majority of Zika cases are asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic, and mosquitoes in the affected areas may already have been infected, isolation of positive cases may have limited effect to managing the spread,” the ministry added.
Thirty six people were infected in GuocoLand, which is headquartered in Singapore and has developments across Asia.
According to the health ministry, it was ordered on to stop work on the building site, and it will remain closed until the company rectifies the conditions that allowed mosquitoes to breed and steps up preventative measures.
The ministry said some 19 mosquito breeding habitats were detected and destroyed in the first sweep of the Aljunied area on Sunday. Around a third of the 6,000 homes was fumigated in the area.
Following the recorded cases of Zika, authorities have warned those living and working in the risk areas, especially pregnant women, to monitor their health and seek medical attention if they are unwell for early detection.
The Zika virus, which is carried by mosquitoes, was detected in Brazil last year and has spread across the Americas. In Florida, it was detected that local transmission among the residents is taking place.
Zika virus poses a risk to pregnant women because it can cause severe birth defects, especially the case of microcephaly, where babies are born with abnormally small heads and brains.