SINGAPORE – Officials sprayed insecticide and cleared drains of stagnant water in residential areas of Singapore at high risk of further Zika infections on Monday after 41 locally transmitted cases were confirmed in the city state.

Workers wearing fumigation masks travelled methodically through high-rise public housing estates in seven separate areas of the island, inspecting plant pots closely as they sprayed insecticide via thermal fogging machines.

The health ministry on Saturday confirmed Singapore’s first locally-transmitted case of Zika, with the tally rising to 41 just a day later. All of the infected people were either residents of the Aljunied district or workers at a construction site owned by GuocoLand in the area.

“We expect to identify more positive cases,” the ministry said on Monday in its latest update on the outbreak.

“Given that the majority of Zika cases are asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic, and mosquitoes in the affected areas may already have been infected, isolation of positive cases may have limited effect to managing the spread,” it added.

Locally-transmitted Zika in Singapore

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The Straits Times, The New Paper

Singapore, a major regional financial centre and busy transit hub, which maintains a constant vigil against the mosquito-borne dengue virus, reported its first case of the Zika virus in May, brought in by a middle-aged man who had been to Brazil.

GuocoLand, which is headquartered in Singapore and has developments across Asia, was ordered on Saturday to stop work on the building site where 36 of the infected people worked. It will remain closed until the company rectifies the conditions that allowed mosquitoes to breed and steps up preventative measures, the health ministry said.

The Zika virus, carried by mosquitoes, 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 1,600 cases of microcephaly, where babies are born with abnormally small heads and brains.

The World Health Organisation said on Sunday it did not know “which lineage of Zika is circulating” in Singapore or “what the level of population immunity is to this lineage of Zika in Asia”.

What is the Zika virus?

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Reuters, The Straits Times, The New Paper, NEA

Singapore’s health ministry said some 19 mosquito breeding habitats were detected and destroyed in its first sweep of the Aljunied area on Sunday when it fumigated around a third of the 6,000 homes.

“I feel afraid,” said Ng Kai Yee, an 18-year-old female student who lives near the construction site believed to be a source of the outbreak. “I heard quite a lot about how harmful Zika virus is to girls, especially pregnant women.”

Authorities have urged those living and working in the risk areas, especially pregnant women, to monitor their health and seek medical attention if they are unwell.

Of the 41 people known to have been infected, 34 have already fully recovered. Only the first case reported was a woman.

As much as we appreciate good translations with nuances and context intact, there is still a special place in everyone’s hearts for the hilarity that ensues with literal translations.

Not convinced?

In Singapore, the large majority of us are (more or less) fluent in two languages, with one being English, so translations to and from the language are definitely not an issue.

However, Singaporean Gregory Gung, also known as GregoryShampoo, decided to take translation to another level and literally translated Pokemon’s English names into Chinese – all with a deadpan expression:

The 45-second long video has hit the funny bones of many, and has been shared over 8,400 times since its posting just 14 hours ago.

When Abra is “a piece of undergarment”

For the benefit of readers who do not understand Chinese, here’s a translation of the video:

Singaporean translates Pokemon names in Chinese

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Facebook/ GregoryShampoo

What’s also interesting to note is that the Pokemon names we’re used to are actually different from their Japanese origins – for example, Jigglypuff is プリン (purin), and Charmander is ヒトカゲ (hitokage), so Japanese fans might find the way we refer to Pokemon funny too!

Not just Pokemon, he’s also translated well-known brands

This is not the first literal translation video he did, and just two weeks ago, he posted one where he translated the names of well-known brands – to equally funny results.

We won’t do a translation like above, but here’s one guaranteed to make you smile:

Thanks

Gregory seems rather active in producing videos, and we can’t wait for more!

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