Zika Virus, Singapore

Malaysia reported its first case of Zika on Thursday, a woman who tested positive for the mosquito-borne virus after a visit to neighboring Singapore, where 115 people have so far been infected, many of them foreigners. These two diseases alone kill scores of Indians almost every year and the number of cases reported has been on the rise in recent months. There's a high risk that Zika could start circulating in New Orleans or Houston, the newspaper reported.

The vast majority of Zika cases have been reported in South and Central America and the Caribbean. Brazil has been hit especially hard.  The country is already struggling to bring mosquito-borne diseases like dengue and chickungunya under control. Zika can be a major risk for India considering the country’s 1.3 billion population and creaky healthcare system.

The 58-year-old victim had shown signs of a rash and fever one week after her return from Singapore on August 21, said Malaysian Health Minister Subramaniam Sathasivam.  Public health experts say the funding issue is critical because the Gulf Coast, where the Aedes mosquito that transmits Zika mostly lives, is only halfway through peak mosquito season.  India's foreign ministry confirmed on Thursday that 13 of its nationals had tested positive for the Zika virus in Singapore, after an outbreak of the mosquito-borne disease that at first affected three dozen workers on a construction site.