Straits Times 7 May 08;
SINGAPORE may not have seen the last of chikungunya, the mosquito-borne disease characterised by fever and joint aches.
The Ministry of Health was alerted to a possible new case last Friday and is now awaiting confirmation from a second blood test on retiree E.C. Sng, who is in his 60s.
The National Environment Agency (NEA) is not taking any chances.
On Monday, a team of 16 descended on the Bukit Timah area, where Mr Sng lives.
A spokesman said the team will continue its search-and-destroy efforts in the area to remove mosquito breeding spots. It has found three in homes there so far.
Mr Sng said he may have caught the virus on a golf course in Jakarta on April 8.
He started feeling ill three days later while on a flight to Sydney. Doctors in Australia diagnosed his fever, extremely painful joint aches and headache as dengue.
Mr Sng decided to return to Singapore for treatment. Preliminary blood tests indicated that he may have chikungunya.
The disease hit the headlines in January when Singapore had its first case of local transmission. In all, 13 people in Little India were infected.
A massive effort by the NEA, including testing the blood of more than 2,600 people in the vicinity and checking more than 5,500 premises, succeeded in stopping the transmission of the disease.
In all previous cases, the patients were infected overseas instead of locally by Aedes mosquitoes carrying the virus.
SALMA KHALIK
