Singapore Zika cases jump to 151, second pregnant woman diagnosed with infection

Health authorities say new cases found in Tagore Avenue in Upper Thomson, Yishun Street 81 and Harvey Crescent.

Singapore Zika virus cases jump to 151 with 31 new confirmed cases of locally transmitted infection on Thursday, including three cases which are not linked to any existing cluster.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) and National Environment Agency (NEA) said in a joint statement that those three patients live in Tagore Avenue in Upper Thomson, Yishun Street 81 and Harvey Crescent, which is in Simei.

The new cases also include the second pregnant woman to be diagnosed with the virus in Singapore. The first one was confirmed on Wednesday.

NEA said it has already taken steps to monitor the situation. The agency inspected almost 5,000 premises out of an estimated 6,000 premises in the Aljunied Crescent/Sims Drive cluster and conducted ground checks in the vicinity.

The agency will begin mosquito control operations at the new potential clusters and will also step up vector control in other parts of Singapore. NEA added that vector control remains the main reason for reducing the spread of Zika.

It also said that this is similar to its approach to dengue cases and urged the public to be very careful.

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