Bishan Street 12 Zika cluster first to close, after no new cases in two weeks

Fogging being done in the precinct of Bishan Street 12 on Sept 7, 2016. ST PHOTO: LIM SIN THAI

SINGAPORE - The Zika cluster at Bishan Street 12 was declared closed on Wednesday (Sept 28) by the National Environment Agency (NEA).

It is the first Zika cluster to close since the outbreak began in Singapore on Aug 27.

Five cases were linked to the area, which was designated a cluster on Sept 6.

No new cases have been reported in the past two weeks, although the NEA said that the area will be kept under close surveillance for another three weeks, until Oct 10.

Continued vigilance is advised as the virus could still be spread by asymptomatic patients.

The NEA has carried out vector control measures in the area, detecting and destroying two mosquito-breeding sites in homes and six more in other premises.

At present, there are eight other Zika clusters around the island, although seven have not had any new cases in the past two weeks.

The only cluster that reported new cases in that timeframe is the initial Aljunied Crescent cluster, where four of its 294 cases fell in the past fortnight.

To date, there have been 408 diagnosed cases of locally transmitted Zika in Singapore.


Correction note: An earlier version of the story said that there have been 408 diagnosed cases of locally transmitted Zika. The correct number is 396 cases. We are sorry for the error.

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