The outbreak and the warnings come as a potential blow to tourism in one of the world's busiest travel hubs, which is already struggling to recover from a slump amid tepid global growth.

Singapore reported its first case of locally-transmitted Zika at the weekend, and the number of reported infections of the mosquito-borne virus has since jumped to 56. At least three dozen of those have since made a full recovery.

The Zika virus was detected in Brazil last year and has since spread across the Americas. It poses a risk to pregnant women because it can cause severe birth defects. It has been linked in Brazil to more than 1,800 cases of microcephaly, a rare birth defect where babies are born with abnormally small heads and brains.

The 56 confirmed cases in Singapore include only one woman.

Taiwan, Australia and South Korea advised pregnant women and those planning pregnancy to postpone trips to Singapore. Those returning from the country should avoid pregnancy for two months. South Korean travelers will receive text messages with the warning when they arrive in Singapore.

Malaysia and Indonesia, Singapore's closest neighbors, have stepped up protective measures following the outbreak, introducing thermal scanners at airports and border checkpoints.

Singapore's Tourism Board said it was monitoring developments, adding the city state remained a "safe travel destination", and it was premature to consider any impact.

More than 55 million people pass through Singapore's Changi airport every year. In the first half of this year, tourism arrivals reached almost 8.2 million, compared with around 7.3 million in the same period of last year.

Online retailer Lazada Singapore said on Tuesday it has seen sales of mosquito repellent and other deterrent products rise fivefold over the past three days compared to a week ago.

Authorities continued to inspect thousands of homes in seven parts of Singapore, including five foreign worker dormitories, on Tuesday. Officials sprayed insecticide and removed potential mosquito breeding habitats such as stagnant water and moist dirt from drains.

The majority of those infected with Zika in Singapore were foreign workers, but the government has not disclosed their nationalities. The High Commission of Bangladesh, which represents the largest community of foreign workers, said none of the workers were Bangladeshis.

The Chinese and Myanmar embassies in Singapore said they had not been notified by Singapore whether their citizens were among those infected. The Thai embassy did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Foreign workers in Singapore, employed mostly in the construction and marine industries, can earn as little as S$2 ($1.47) an hour, often work 12-14 hours a day and take few days off. They are unlikely to travel often.

The GuocoLand construction site, where the infected workers were found, remained closed on Tuesday morning, according to a Reuters photographer at the scene. It was ordered on Sunday to halt work and rectify the conditions that allowed mosquitoes to breed.

Regional health experts said the Zika virus is likely to be significantly under-reported across tropical Southeast Asia as local health authorities fail to conduct adequate screening.</s>The new infections bring the state's total of non-travel-related cases to 46, according to the Florida Department of Health. Only one of Tuesday's three new cases was linked to Miami Beach, which is known to be an active area for local Zika transmission.

The health department said it was investigating the other two cases to determine where they occurred, but cautioned, "One case does not mean ongoing active transmission is taking place."

The department said it believes ongoing transmission is only taking place in parts of Miami Beach and the trendy Miami neighborhood of Wynwood, the site of the first local Zika transmission in the United States.

Zika infections have been mounting in popular tourist areas and may have caused concern among wary vacationers. Travelers have booked fewer hotel rooms in downtown Miami, and leisure airfares to the greater Miami area have inched down in the weeks since the Zika virus was detected there.

Florida health department workers have been going door-to-door in Pinellas, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade Counties to talk to residents about the virus and offer voluntary tests.

The Zika virus was first detected in Brazil last year and has since spread across the Americas. The virus poses a risk to pregnant women because it can cause severe birth defects, including microcephaly. It has been linked to more than 1,800 cases of microcephaly in Brazil.</s>SINGAPORE, Aug 30 (Reuters) - The number of confirmed cases of Zika virus in Singapore rose to 82 on Tuesday, with some of the latest infections detected beyond the area of the initial outbreak.

Several countries advised pregnant women or those trying to conceive to avoid travelling to the city-state.

The mosquito-borne Zika virus was detected in Brazil last year and has since spread across the Americas. It poses a risk to pregnant women as it can cause severe birth defects. It has been linked in Brazil to more than 1,800 cases of microcephaly, a rare birth defect where babies are born with abnormally small heads and brains.

At least five of 26 new cases confirmed late on Tuesday were detected outside the initial cluster in the Aljunied area in the southeast of Singapore, the health ministry and National Environment Agency (NEA) said in a joint statement.

Australia, Taiwan and South Korea issued travel warnings, and Singapore advised pregnant women to take a free Zika test if they showed any symptoms or if their partners tested positive.

"This is regardless of whether they have been to Zika-affected areas," the statement said.

The outbreak and advisories come as the tourism industry in one of the world's busiest travel hubs already faces weak global economic growth. Singapore's Tourism Board said it was premature to consider any impact on the sector, adding it remained a "safe travel destination".

More than 55 million people pass through Singapore's Changi airport every year. In the first half of this year, tourism arrivals topped 8 million, around 1 million more than a year earlier.

Singapore reported its first case of locally-transmitted Zika at the weekend, and the number of confirmed infections has risen steadily since then. At least three dozen patients have made a full recovery.

Neighbouring Malaysia and Indonesia have stepped up protective measures, introducing thermal scanners at airports and border checkpoints with the island state.

Singapore residents responded to government calls to be vigilant and to take precautions against mosquito bites.

Online retailer Lazada Singapore said sales of insect repellents jumped fivefold in the past three days. FairPrice supermarkets and Watsons pharmacies said their sales of such products had doubled.

Most of the early infections were among foreign workers, hundreds of thousands of whom, mainly from the Asian sub-continent, work on Singapore's construction sites and in the marine sector.

The Singapore government has not said where the infected foreign workers are from. The foreign ministry directed queries to the health ministry, which did not respond to Reuters questions on the issue. The Ministry of Manpower also did not respond to a request for comment made outside working hours.

The High Commission of Bangladesh, which represents the largest community of foreign workers, said none of those infected were Bangladeshis, and the Thai foreign ministry said none were from Thailand. The embassies of China, India, Sri Lanka and Myanmar said they had not been notified by Singapore whether their citizens were among those infected.

Authorities inspected thousands of homes in seven parts of Singapore, including five foreign worker dormitories, spraying insecticide and removing potential mosquito breeding habitats.

The NEA has inspected about 5,000 premises in and around the initial outbreak area, issuing 400 notices to owners of buildings they could not access. The NEA can force entry into those premises if needed.</s>The outbreak and the warnings come as a potential blow to tourism in one of the world's busiest travel hubs, which is already struggling to recover from a slump amid tepid global growth.

Singapore reported its first case of locally-transmitted Zika at the weekend, and the number of reported infections of the mosquito-borne virus has since jumped to 56. At least three dozen of those have since made a full recovery.

The Zika virus was detected in Brazil last year and has since spread across the Americas. It poses a risk to pregnant women because it can cause severe birth defects. It has been linked in Brazil to more than 1,800 cases of microcephaly, a rare birth defect where babies are born with abnormally small heads and brains.

The 56 confirmed cases in Singapore include only one woman.

Taiwan, Australia and South Korea advised pregnant women and those planning pregnancy to postpone trips to Singapore. Those returning from the country should avoid pregnancy for two months. South Korean travelers will receive text messages with the warning when they arrive in Singapore.

Malaysia and Indonesia, Singapore's closest neighbors, have stepped up protective measures following the outbreak, introducing thermal scanners at airports and border checkpoints.

Singapore's Tourism Board said it was monitoring developments, adding the city state remained a "safe travel destination", and it was premature to consider any impact.

More than 55 million people pass through Singapore's Changi airport every year. In the first half of this year, tourism arrivals reached almost 8.2 million, compared with around 7.3 million in the same period of last year.

Online retailer Lazada Singapore said on Tuesday it has seen sales of mosquito repellent and other deterrent products rise fivefold over the past three days compared to a week ago.

Authorities continued to inspect thousands of homes in seven parts of Singapore, including five foreign worker dormitories, on Tuesday. Officials sprayed insecticide and removed potential mosquito breeding habitats such as stagnant water and moist dirt from drains.

The majority of those infected with Zika in Singapore were foreign workers, but the government has not disclosed their nationalities. The High Commission of Bangladesh, which represents the largest community of foreign workers, said none of the workers were Bangladeshis.

The Chinese and Myanmar embassies in Singapore said they had not been notified by Singapore whether their citizens were among those infected. The Thai embassy did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Foreign workers in Singapore, employed mostly in the construction and marine industries, can earn as little as S$2 ($1.47) an hour, often work 12-14 hours a day and take few days off. They are unlikely to travel often.

The GuocoLand construction site, where the infected workers were found, remained closed on Tuesday morning, according to a Reuters photographer at the scene. It was ordered on Sunday to halt work and rectify the conditions that allowed mosquitoes to breed.

Regional health experts said the Zika virus is likely to be significantly under-reported across tropical Southeast Asia as local health authorities fail to conduct adequate screening.</s>SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Confirmed cases of Zika virus in Singapore rose to 82 on Tuesday, as the United States joined a growing list of countries warning pregnant women or those trying to get pregnant to avoid travel to the city-state.

The mosquito-borne Zika virus, which has caused explosive outbreaks in the Americas and the Caribbean since late last year, poses a particular risk to pregnant women because it can cause microcephaly, a severe birth defect in which babies are born with abnormally small heads and underdeveloped brains.

On Tuesday, the United States warned pregnant women not to travel to Singapore, joining Australia, Taiwan and South Korea.

The warnings followed news that Zika transmission appears to be occurring outside of the original cluster, with at least five of 26 new cases confirmed late on Tuesday detected in the Aljunied area in the southeast of Singapore, the health ministry and National Environment Agency (NEA) said in a joint statement.

Singapore has advised pregnant women to take a free Zika test if they showed any symptoms or if their partners tested positive. “This is regardless of whether they have been to Zika-affected areas,” health officials said in a statement.

The outbreak and advisories come as the tourism industry in one of the world’s busiest travel hubs already faces weak global economic growth. Singapore’s Tourism Board said it was premature to consider any impact on the sector, adding it remained a “safe travel destination”.

Related Coverage CDC adds Zika-hit Singapore to interim travel guidance list

More than 55 million people pass through Singapore’s Changi airport every year. In the first half of this year, tourism arrivals topped 8 million, around 1 million more than a year earlier.

MOZZIE SPRAY SALES

Singapore reported its first case of locally-transmitted Zika at the weekend, and the number of confirmed infections has risen steadily since then. At least three dozen patients have made a full recovery.

Neighboring Malaysia and Indonesia have stepped up protective measures, introducing thermal scanners at airports and border checkpoints with the island state. Such measures, however, will only identify symptomatic cases of Zika, but only one in five people have symptoms of the virus, which include fever, rash, joint pain and pink eye.

Singapore residents responded to government calls to be vigilant and to take precautions against mosquito bites.

Online retailer Lazada Singapore said sales of insect repellents jumped five-fold in the past three days. FairPrice supermarkets and Watsons pharmacies said their sales of such products had doubled.

Airplane passengers walks through feverscan camera system used to detect human temperature shortly after arriving from Singapore at the Soekarno-Hatta airport in Jakarta, Indonesia, August 30, 2016. REUTERS/Beawiharta

Most of the early infections were among foreign workers, hundreds of thousands of whom, mainly from the Asian sub-continent, work on Singapore’s construction sites and in the marine sector.

The Singapore government has not said where the infected foreign workers are from. The foreign ministry directed queries to the health ministry, which did not respond to Reuters questions on the issue. The Ministry of Manpower also did not respond to a request for comment made outside working hours.

The High Commission of Bangladesh, which represents the largest community of foreign workers, said none of those infected were Bangladeshis, and the Thai foreign ministry said none were from Thailand. The embassies of China, India, Sri Lanka and Myanmar said they had not been notified by Singapore whether their citizens were among those infected.

Authorities inspected thousands of homes in seven parts of Singapore, including five foreign worker dormitories, spraying insecticide and removing potential mosquito breeding habitats.

The NEA has inspected about 5,000 premises in and around the initial outbreak area, issuing 400 notices to owners of buildings they could not access. The NEA can force entry into those premises if needed.

Zika was first discovered in Uganda in 1947. It caused clusters of human infections from the 1960s to 1980s across Africa and Asia, according to the World Health Organization.

The outbreak in the Americas was caused by a Zika strain from Asia, possibly carried to Brazil through travel to a sporting event. Many experts believe once infected, Zika produces lifelong immunity.

Slideshow (4 Images)

“Unfortunately, it is not clear the level of immunity that is currently in Asia,” said Alessandro Vespignani of Northeastern University in Boston.

WHO declared Zika a global health emergency because of its link with microcephaly. In Brazil, Zika has been linked to more than 1,800 cases of microcephaly.</s>The new infections bring the state's total of non-travel-related cases to 46, according to the Florida Department of Health. Only one of Tuesday's three new cases was linked to Miami Beach, which is known to be an active area for local Zika transmission.

The health department said it was investigating the other two cases to determine where they occurred, but cautioned, "One case does not mean ongoing active transmission is taking place."

The department said it believes ongoing transmission is only taking place in parts of Miami Beach and the trendy Miami neighborhood of Wynwood, the site of the first local Zika transmission in the United States.

Zika infections have been mounting in popular tourist areas and may have caused concern among wary vacationers. Travelers have booked fewer hotel rooms in downtown Miami, and leisure airfares to the greater Miami area have inched down in the weeks since the Zika virus was detected there.

Florida health department workers have been going door-to-door in Pinellas, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade Counties to talk to residents about the virus and offer voluntary tests.

The Zika virus was first detected in Brazil last year and has since spread across the Americas. The virus poses a risk to pregnant women because it can cause severe birth defects, including microcephaly. It has been linked to more than 1,800 cases of microcephaly in Brazil.</s>The number of Zika cases in Singapore has surged to 82, the government said Tuesday, as the mosquito-fighting effort continued in a bid to curb the spread of the disease.

Singapore's Ministry of Health and National Environment Agency confirmed 26 new local infections -- the majority around the eastern Aljunied suburb where most of the other cases have been clustered.

Many of the initial cases were foreign workers on a condominium project.

Zika, which has been detected in 58 countries and particularly Brazil, causes only mild symptoms for most people, such as fever and a rash.

But in pregnant women, Zika can cause microcephaly, a deformation in which babies are born with abnormally small brains and heads.

The city-state has in recent days waged war on mosquitoes, with teams of NEA inspectors visiting homes to check for mosquito breeding sites while pest controllers have saturated affected estates with insecticide.

The NEA said it had inspected 5,000 out of 6,000 homes in the affected cluster by Monday, destroying 39 breeding sites.

Those found with mosquito breeding sites in their homes can be fined up to Sg$5,000 ($3,700).

Singapore, despite having the highest health care standards in Southeast Asia, is a densely populated tropical island with frequent rain. Mosquitoes breed in stagnant water that collects in construction sites, open space and homes.

It is also one of Asia's cleanest cities but has a chronic problem with dengue fever, which is spread by the same Aedes mosquito that carries the Zika virus.

Singapore's first reported case of Zika in May involved a man who had visited Sao Paulo in Brazil earlier in the year.

Neighbouring countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines have said they will monitor visitor arrivals from Singapore, while Taiwan and Australia have issued travel advisories warning against travel to the city-state.</s>Local administrative offices across the country have enacted measures against the spread of Zika virus after a slew of infections were reported.

Ang Thong Municipality has begun spraying against mosquitoes following news 94 people in the province of Bueng Kan contracted the disease with one still recovering.

According to Bueng Kan public health officer Dr. Wissanu Wittayabumrung, the 94 were found in 5 districts of the province. He affirmed 93 are completely recovered and that monitoring practices are being maintained in all susceptible areas.

Ang Thong public health officer Dr. Songwuth Hutamai let on that an order has been issued for all public health offices to enact precautionary measures against Zika, including in areas where no infections have yet been found.

The action comes ahead of a World Health Organization emergency meeting prompted by an outbreak of Zika in Singapore, which also led to travel warnings against the country being issued by nations such as Australia, Taiwan and the US.

While Zika is relatively minor among other viruses, it has been tied to a fetal condition seen when pregnant mothers contract the illness.</s>The Disease Control Department has dismissed as inaccurate a report of the Disease Control and Prevention Centre of the European Union placing Thailand as a country with widespread Zika infection in the last three months.

The department director-general, Dr Amnuay Kajeena, explained on Tuesday that since Thailand had never submitted any report about Zika infection to the European Union, it was assumed that the report might be based on press reports which were not accurate.

He suggested that the EU’s disease control and prevention centre should base its report on the data of the World Health Organisation.

WHO has placed Thailand among countries with scattered Zika infection which also include Vietnam, Indonesia and Singapore, said Dr Amnuay, adding that Zika infection which used to affect 16 provinces has now reduced to six provinces without any new cases.</s>SINGAPORE, Aug 30 (Reuters) - The number of confirmed cases of Zika virus in Singapore rose to 82 on Tuesday, with some of the latest infections detected beyond the area of the initial outbreak.

Several countries advised pregnant women or those trying to conceive to avoid travelling to the city-state.

The mosquito-borne Zika virus was detected in Brazil last year and has since spread across the Americas. It poses a risk to pregnant women as it can cause severe birth defects. It has been linked in Brazil to more than 1,800 cases of microcephaly, a rare birth defect where babies are born with abnormally small heads and brains.

At least five of 26 new cases confirmed late on Tuesday were detected outside the initial cluster in the Aljunied area in the southeast of Singapore, the health ministry and National Environment Agency (NEA) said in a joint statement.

Australia, Taiwan and South Korea issued travel warnings, and Singapore advised pregnant women to take a free Zika test if they showed any symptoms or if their partners tested positive.

"This is regardless of whether they have been to Zika-affected areas," the statement said.

The outbreak and advisories come as the tourism industry in one of the world's busiest travel hubs already faces weak global economic growth. Singapore's Tourism Board said it was premature to consider any impact on the sector, adding it remained a "safe travel destination".

More than 55 million people pass through Singapore's Changi airport every year. In the first half of this year, tourism arrivals topped 8 million, around 1 million more than a year earlier.

Singapore reported its first case of locally-transmitted Zika at the weekend, and the number of confirmed infections has risen steadily since then. At least three dozen patients have made a full recovery.

Neighbouring Malaysia and Indonesia have stepped up protective measures, introducing thermal scanners at airports and border checkpoints with the island state.

Singapore residents responded to government calls to be vigilant and to take precautions against mosquito bites.

Online retailer Lazada Singapore said sales of insect repellents jumped fivefold in the past three days. FairPrice supermarkets and Watsons pharmacies said their sales of such products had doubled.

Most of the early infections were among foreign workers, hundreds of thousands of whom, mainly from the Asian sub-continent, work on Singapore's construction sites and in the marine sector.

The Singapore government has not said where the infected foreign workers are from. The foreign ministry directed queries to the health ministry, which did not respond to Reuters questions on the issue. The Ministry of Manpower also did not respond to a request for comment made outside working hours.

The High Commission of Bangladesh, which represents the largest community of foreign workers, said none of those infected were Bangladeshis, and the Thai foreign ministry said none were from Thailand. The embassies of China, India, Sri Lanka and Myanmar said they had not been notified by Singapore whether their citizens were among those infected.

Authorities inspected thousands of homes in seven parts of Singapore, including five foreign worker dormitories, spraying insecticide and removing potential mosquito breeding habitats.

The NEA has inspected about 5,000 premises in and around the initial outbreak area, issuing 400 notices to owners of buildings they could not access. The NEA can force entry into those premises if needed.
Australia, South Korea and Taiwan issue travel advisories concerning Singapore after cases of Zika virus infection in the city-state passes 50.