The Zika virus strains in locally transmitted cases and that of a case imported from Brazil in May are different, the authorities said yesterday.
Scientists found that the Zika virus strain affecting the recent cases in the Aljunied Crescent/Sims Drive cluster is similar to strains that have been circulating in South-east Asia since the 1960s.
This was announced at a briefing by the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) National Public Health Laboratory (NPHL) and A*Star’s Bioinformatics Institute (BII) yesterday.
The virus later spread to French Polynesia in 2013 and to Brazil in 2015, they said.
On the other hand, the virus strain from a case imported to Singapore in May was similar to strains currently found in South America.
Reuters, The Straits Times, The New Paper, NEA
While both virus strains are of the Asian lineage, analysis suggests that the locally transmitted virus strain belongs to an earlier type, and was not recently imported from South America.
These were the findings of the NPHL and BII after sequencing the virus from the first imported case in May and two recent cases in Singapore.
There is no evidence to suggest that the different strains are linked to differences in severity or type of disease, researchers said.
“While there was no link established between microcephaly and Zika until the Brazil outbreak, we have to assume it is possible, hence the precautions that pregnant women are advised to take,” said Raymond Lin, head of the NPHL.
The findings will help with tracking the global spread and evolution of the Zika virus.
The sequences from the analyses will be put on public databases for the benefit of scientists elsewhere and for the World Health Organisation.
Meanwhile, a new potential cluster of Zika infection was identified by the authorities, in the Ubi Crescent area.
As of noon yesterday, MOH confirmed nine new cases of locally transmitted Zika.
This brings the number of cases in Singapore to 292.
One more case was linked to Bishan Street 12, and one to Elite Terrace, which was highlighted as a potential cluster on Wednesday.
The Straits Times, The New Paper
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