Singapore's government confirmed active transmission in the southeast corner of the city-state, while Florida reported an additional case of locally transmitted Zika.
In other developments, another Zika diagnostic test received an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA), as a clinical trial of a Zika vaccine launched in Puerto Rico.
Singapore reports locally transmitted Zika outbreak
Yesterday and today, Singapore's Health Ministry and the National Environment Agency (NEA) offered case details of that country's first outbreak of locally acquired Zika virus. So far, 56 people have been confirmed as having Zika. Most (36) were identified through testing of potentially infected people.
All cases are residents or workers in the Aljunied Crescent or Sims Drive in the southeast corner of the city-state. According to a Reuter's news story, the infected are foreign construction workers employed on a GuocoLand site in Aljunied Crescent. None of the infected report traveling to a country where Zika is endemic, leading officials to declare local transmission was occurring.
Officials don't yet know what lineage of Zika virus is active in Singapore.
In May, Singapore reported its first case of Zika virus in a man who had recently traveled to Brazil. Though Zika's spread through the Americas has made the most headlines this year, Singapore now joins Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam as Asian countries with ongoing local transmission of the mosquito-borne virus.
In a statement posted on the NEA's website, the agency said other areas of Singapore may be at risk for Zika transmission.
"Given that the Zika virus is spread by the Aedes mosquito vector, MOH cannot rule out further community transmission in Singapore, since some of those tested positive also live or work in other parts of Singapore," the statement said. "At this point, these other areas of concern include Khatib Camp, Sembawang Drive and places where the construction workers live."
According to the NEA, high rises and apartment complexes in Aljunied Crescent are being canvassed with information regarding Zika prevention and fogged with insect repellent. Officials warn that there will likely be more cases confirmed in the coming days.
"As the majority of people infected with the virus do not show symptoms, it is likely that some transmission may already have taken place before these cases of Zika were confirmed," the NEA said. "Hence, even as NEA conducts operations to contain the transmission of the Zika virus, residents are urged to cooperate fully with NEA and allow its officers to inspect their premises for mosquito breeding and to spray insecticide to kill any mosquitoes."
Another case of Zika in Miami-Dade County
The Florida Department of Health (Florida Health) said Monday there was one new case of non-travel related Zika in Miami-Dade County. There are now 43 cases of locally acquired Zika in Florida, the majority in Miami-Dade County's Miami Beach and Wynwood neighborhoods.
To date, Florida Health has tested 4,172 people statewide for Zika virus, and said there are 10 ongoing investigations into non-travel related cases.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, Walt Disney World, Sea World, and Universal Orlando began distributing insect repellent to visitors on Sunday. Information pamphlets on Zika and sprays and pumps of insecticide will be available in hotel rooms at the theme parks. Since local transmission of Zika was first confirmed in July, Florida officials have worried it will negatively impact the state's tourism industry.
Zika test approved, vaccine trial launched
Also today, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an EUA for a new Zika test manufactured by Roche. The test, called the LightMix Zika test, is reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test that can read 96 samples in 2.5 hours, according to a press release from Roche.
And finally, Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. said today they were launching a clinical trial of a Zika vaccine in Puerto Rico this week. They will test the vaccine GLS-5700 in a double-blind clinical trial involving 160 healthy adults. Puerto Rico has seen a surge of Zika cases this summer, with health organizations estimating that 5% to 25 % of the population could be infected with the virus.
J. Joseph Kim, PhD, Inovio’s president and CEO, said, "The rapid progression of the Zika outbreak in Puerto Rico provides an immediate and unique opportunity to assess a preventive vaccine in a real world setting." He added, "If the results are promising, we plan to meet with regulators in 2017 to map out the most efficient path forward to develop our Zika vaccine and help mitigate this widespread Zika outbreak that has expanded into the continental United States."
The DNA vaccine has performed well in both small and large animal models, according to Inovio.
See also:
Aug 29 Reuter's story
Aug 28 NEA statement
Aug 29 Orlando Sentinel story
Aug 29 Florida Health update
Aug 29 Roche press release
Aug 29 Inovio press release
