SCREENING: A queue forms at Tekka Mall for blood tests by the Ministry of Health. -- ST PHOTO: CHEW SENG KIM

Singapore has seen 11 cases of the mosquito-borne disease in its first outbreak here, with victims stricken by fever, joint pains, chills and nausea. These symptoms usually last three to 10 days.

The situation could well get worse, warned infectious disease expert Paul Herrling, the head of corporate research at Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases here.

'There's no reason, in essence, why chikungunya could not spread like dengue has,' said Professor Herrling in an interview with The Straits Times last week.

On Saturday, Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan said he harboured little hope of wiping chikungunya out here.

The main factor working for chikungunya, said Prof Herrling, is that it is spread by the Aedes mosquito, the same insect vector that carries the viruses which cause dengue.

This mosquito is thriving. Insecticides are beginning to lose their efficacy, Prof Herrling noted, with the disease vector becoming an increasingly stubborn problem in developed countries.

High population densities and increased travel also make it easier for the disease to jump borders.

First discovered in the 1700s, dengue was once confined to parts of Asia and Africa but has now reached global proportions, he said.

Similarly, outbreaks of chikungunya had occurred largely in India since the 1950s, but recent cases have been reported in countries as as far away as Italy.

'It's an interesting case of how diseases are beginning to re-emerge,' Prof Herrling said.

However, he added that it was too early to conclude that chikungunya is here to stay.

Similarly, Associate Professor Vincent Chow, who is with the National University of Singapore's department of microbiology, agreed it is possible the disease could become a global problem.

But he cautioned Singaporeans against hitting the panic button.

'With aggressive containment measures, it's possible to nip the problem in the bud,' he said.

All the cases emerging in the past two weeks have occurred in Little India.

To stem the current outbreak, the National Environment Agency has deployed 20 officers and hired 15 private pest control operators, almost three times more people than usual, to comb the Clive Street area for mosquito breeding sites.

They have also carried out repeated fogging there.