Singapore confirms 41 cases of locally transmitted Zika virus infection

Singapore's Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed 41 cases of locally transmitted Zika virus infection in the republic, Channel NewsAsia reported today.

Quoting a MOH and National Environment Agency (NEA) joint press release, the report said that of these cases, 34 have fully recovered while the other seven, who are still symptomatic and potentially infectious, are recovering at the Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

The report said all the cases were residents or workers in the Aljunied Crescent or Sims Drive area.

They are not known to have travelled to Zika-affected areas recently, and are thus likely to have been infected in Singapore, it said.

"At this point, the community transmission appears to be localised within the Aljunied Crescent or Sims Drive cluster," the authorities were quoted as saying.

Of the cases, 36 are foreign workers who worked at a construction site at 60, Sims Drive, MOH and NEA said.

The announcement comes a day after NEA and MOH said a 47-year-old Malaysian woman living at Block 102, Aljunied Crescent is Singapore's first reported case of locally-transmitted Zika.