Hong Kong (CNN)The Zika virus is on a rampage in Singapore, with 115 locally-transmitted cases -- including the first pregnant woman -- confirmed late Wednesday by the country"s Ministry of Health (MOH).
"Over time, we expect Zika cases to emerge from more areas," said Singaporean Minister for Health Gan Kim Yong, in a statement released Wednesday.
But why is Zika spreading so fast in the city state?
"The proportion of our population that are immune to the Zika virus is likely to be low in Singapore and if you don"t have the immunity to provide the roadblocks, then it"s likely that the virus will spread fast," Eng Eong Ooi, the deputy director of the Emerging Infectious Disease program at Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore, told CNN.
Rather than locking herself indoors, San said she would avoid areas like parks where mosquitoes were likely to be, and spend recreational time in libraries and museums instead.
For others, the Zika outbreak in Singapore has become an unlikely boon.
Theodore Khng, CEO of mosquito repellent startup Theo10, told CNN that sales of his natural deet-free product had tripled in the last three days.
Khng initially manufactured his product to combat mosquitoes carrying the dengue virus, but admitted that the recent Zika scare had boosted sales.
"People who have used the products before have been buying in bulk for others," said Khng. "The repellents are flying off the shelves."
Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/31/asia/zika-singapore-rapid-spread-why/index.html
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