Novel pathogens continue to be discovered. An example of this is the Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome bunyavirus in Henan, China. Appropriately a commentary accompanying the report identified China as a country with the largest potential for emerging or re-emerging infectious disease, due to the close proximity of animals and human populations. Similarly, Southeast Asia was identified as a potential hotspot, citing the avian influenza pandemic and Nipahn virus outbreak. As such, it is obvious that there is a need to better define undiagnosed infective syndromes in Singapore, and subsequently characterize emerging pathogens.