Agency's work includes travel health, border measures to prevent spread of diseases into Singapore

While Singapore is free of yellow fever now, the country is still under threat from the viral disease, which like dengue is transmitted by the Aedes mosquito.

- Judith Tan Correspondent

Mr Pream Raj, acting director of Contact and Environmental Diseases, Border and Travel Health at the new Communicable Diseases Agency (CDA), flagged the danger posed by yellow fever, and said Singapore has to do a lot more to prevent its potential introduction and spread here.

Yellow fever is a mosquito-borne acute haemorrhagic fever that can result in death. It poses a significant threat to global health security due to its high impact and potential for international spread.

Endemic in the tropical regions of South America and sub-Saharan Africa, yellow fever is estimated to cause up to 60,000 deaths worldwide every year.

In an interview with reporters on Nov 6, ahead of the official launch of CDA on Nov 12, Mr Pream gave the example of how Singapore is managing the threat of yellow fever to illustrate the work of the agency, which was set up in April and is the point agency to safeguard the country against infectious disease threats.

He highlighted the difficulty of managing the Aedes population in Singapore, as the country’s tropical climate and urban environment provide ample breeding habitats.

"This makes it extremely dangerous should yellow fever be brought into the country... so, what we want to do is to prevent the disease from taking root here," he said.