FIVE people, including a 27-year-old foreign national staying in Clive Street, have come down with chikungunya fever, an acute viral disease transmitted by mosquito.

A Ministry of Health (MOH) statement on Thursday said it was notified of the foreign national case on Jan 14.

Investigations revealed that this was likely a case of local transmission of chikungunya fever as he has not travelled out of Singapore for several months.

All previous cases of chikungunya reported in Singapore were imported, meaning the infection was contracted overseas. Last year, 10 cases of chikungunya fever were notified to MOH.

Chikungunya fever, like dengue fever, is a mosquito-borne disease, characterised by sudden onset of fever, chills, headache, nausea, vomiting, joint pain with or without swelling and low back pain. The best way to prevent chikungunya fever is to take precautionary measures to prevent mosquito breeding.

Following the Jan 14 notification of the patient with chikungunya fever, MOH together with National Environment Agency (NEA)'s Environmental Health Institute, has begun to screen persons living or working in the Clive Street area.

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