Zika Virus In Singapore: More Than 250 Confirmed Cases; Virus Is ‘No Longer Contained’ In Cluster Areas

The Zika virus outbreak in Singapore has reached more than 250 confirmed cases this week. Health authorities said the virus is not anymore restrained in certain areas, with expectations that Zika will continue to spread in other parts of the city-state.

Singapore's Ministry of Health and the National Environment Agency (NEA) said in a joint statement on Monday that there are 16 new confirmed cases, with four of those not connected to existing cluster areas where the outbreak first emerged, Al Arabiya reported. To date, the number of confirmed Zika cases has increased to 258.

Zika is transmitted by the Aedes mosquito, which also carries the dengue virus. Zika is most harmful to developing babies in the womb. Babies infected with the virus usually suffer from eye and hearing problems, developmental delays, and microcephaly -- a condition where infants have abnormally small heads and incomplete brain development.

The MOH and the NEA will adjust Singapore's strategies to manage and control the Zika virus. The majority of Zika cases in the city-state are located around the adjacent suburbs of Aljunied and Paya Lebar, initially infecting foreign construction workers.

Singapore's tropical climate makes it experience high rainfall and humid weather, which is the ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes. To control the Zika virus, authorities are fumigating affected sites and removing mosquito breeding grounds. Homes that will not eradicate mosquito larvae will have to pay a fine worth up to Sg$5,000 ($3,700).

Singapore's Ministry of Health also disclosed that Zika patients will no longer be isolated due to its "limited effect," Al Arabiya further relayed. The health ministry found that Singapore's two Zika cases evolved from a virus strain that was already in Southeast Asia, particularly in Malaysia.

Malaysia's first Zika diagnosis was a 58-year-old woman, who visited her daughter in Singapore on Sept. 1, according to CNN. Singapore's first locally-transmitted Zika case was reported on Sept. 3.

Thailand has seen Zika transmission cases in the last three months as well. The Philippines also reported its first Zika case this year on Monday, the Philippine Star confirmed.

Eng Eong Ooi, the deputy director of the Emerging Infectious Disease program at Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore, said Asian countries are vulnerable to the Zika virus and other similar outbreaks due to their high population count and humid climates. Ooi said Asia's megacities contain five to 10 million people, and Aedes mosquitoes thrive in these densely-packed urban areas. The combination of high volumes of people and mosquitoes makes it conducive for Zika and dengue to spread.