13 more down with chikungunya

Straits Times 26 Aug 08;

A NEW cluster of chikungunya cases has sprung up in the Lim Chu Kang farming area, with five workers falling ill, the Health Ministry said yesterday.

Eight more cases have been discovered elsewhere on the island. The 13 new cases bring the toll so far to 150 this year.

The first two cases that cropped up in Lim Chu Kang involved a 25-year-old Bangladeshi and a 41-year-old Singaporean. Both worked in the vicinity of Lim Chu Kang Agro Technology Park, which is along Lim Chu Kang Lane 2.

Through the screening of 30 workers there last Friday, three others - a Malaysian, a Chinese national and a Myanmar national - tested positive for the virus, which generates symptoms that include fever, rashes and pain in the joints.

Up to 20 National Environment Agency (NEA) officers have been deployed to carry out search- and-destroy operations against mosquito breeding there, according to a statement from the Health Ministry.

The team discovered mosquito breeding in all four farms it has inspected so far and enforcement action will be taken against the owners.

The authorities have found that the best way to stave off chikungunya fever is to prevent mosquito breeding.

The other eight cases around the island included two from Singapore's largest cluster at Kranji Way, where 35 cases have been logged to date.

Four others worked in two other known clusters: Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre and Sungei Kadut.

NEA officers have also discovered and destroyed 82 mosquito breeding sites so far on premises at these three clusters.

The other two new victims were isolated cases. One is a 61-year-old housewife living in Yishun Street 72 while the other is an automation engineer, aged 47, who works at Tuas Link 1. Both have no recent history of travelling overseas.

Seventy of the 150 cases so far have been 'imported cases' mainly concerning people who had visited Malaysia, while the locally-acquired infections can be traced to 18 locations in Singapore.

TEH JOO LIN

5 new cases of chikungunya fever found at Lim Chu Kang area
Lynda Hong, Channel NewsAsia 26 Aug 08;

SINGAPORE: A new cluster of chikungunya fever has been identified in the Lim Chu Kang area.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) said the index cases are a 25-year-old Bangladeshi and a 41-year-old Singaporean.

They were working in the vicinity of the Lim Chu Kang Agro Technology Park, located at Lim Chu Kang Lane 2.

Thirty workers were screened as part of active case detection and three more workers were tested positive for the chikungunya virus.

They are a 23-year-old Malaysian, a 21-year-old Chinese national and a 31-year-old Myanmar national.

The ministry said the total number of cases linked to Lim Chu Kang now stands at five. Investigations are continuing.

Separately, one new case was identified at the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre, two at Kranji Way, three at Sungei Kadut, and one each at Yishun and Tuas.

To date, a total of 150 cases of chikungunya fever have been reported to MOH this year.

MOH has advised persons who develop symptoms of chikungunya to consult their doctors immediately. These include fever, joint pain and rashes.

Chikungunya fever, like dengue fever, is a mosquito-borne disease. Persons infected with chikungunya fever should be isolated from further mosquito bites so as to reduce the risk of further transmission of the virus. - CNA/vm