Zika cluster at Bishan St 12 is first to be 'closed'

The Zika cluster at Bishan Street 12 was declared closed yesterday 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.

Currently, 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.

leowhma@sph.com.sg

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