Spread of Zika to Singapore shows difficulty of containing disease: US CDC

SINGAPORE: The spread of any disease to Singapore shows the challenges of controlling it, according to the Director of the United States’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Dr Thomas Frieden.

Dr Frieden was speaking to the media on Thursday (Sep 1, Singapore time), according to a report by NBC, after Singapore reported 115 locally transmitted Zika cases on Wednesday night at a press briefing.

The NBC report stated that Singapore has a tight system for controlling disease. In the case of Zika, it was added to the List of Notifiable Infectious Diseases under the Infectious Diseases Act, which means doctors must inform the authorities within 24 hours of diagnosis.

The US CDC raised the notice for travellers to Singapore earlier this week in the wake of news of the Zika outbreak. The city-state is currently on Level 2, where visitors are encouraged to “practice enhanced precautions”.

Singapore’s Ministry of Health has identified the Sims Drive/Aljunied Crescent/Kallang Way/Paya Lebar Way area as a Zika cluster, adding on Wednesday night that Bedok North Avenue 3 could be a potential new cluster. The National Environment Agency has said it will begin mosquito control operations at the potential new cluster, and step up vector control in other parts of Singapore.

In a statement, Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said: “Over time, we expect Zika cases to emerge from more areas. We must work and plan on the basis that there is Zika transmission in other parts of Singapore and extend our vector control efforts beyond the current affected areas.”