How Singapore became a role model in the fight against Zika

America Abroad
Zika fumigation in Singapore

When Singapore became the first country in Southeast Asia to report local transmission of the Zika virus this past August, it’s fair to say the region, and the world at large, was surprised.

While it may not be a shock to learn that someone within the hot and humid environs of Southeast Asia had contracted Zika, Singapore was a surprising place for it to crop up.

After all, the tiny island nation has an established reputation for being clean, rich and organized (as well as autocratic). Compared to the region, it's quite low on mosquitos.

Thanks to a hugely successful program to control mosquito populations, first launched in the 1960s, densities of the insect in Singapore are but a fraction of those in neighboring countries.

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