Zika Virus: Singapore confirms 15 more local transmission cases

The Zika virus, carried by mosquitoes, was detected in Brazil last year and has since spread across the Americas.

Singapore confirmed 15 more cases of locally-transmitted infections with the Zika virus late on Monday, having announced 41 over the weekend, the Straits Times newspaper reported, citing the health ministry.

Thirteen of the new cases were people who lived or worked in the same area where the virus was first detected.

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.