Zika cases just rose to 82 in Singapore

UPDATE: Aug. 31, 2016, 10:41 a.m. SGT Updated with heat map of affected area.

The number of Zika cases continues to climb in Singapore, where the virus is understood to have been introduced by an individual returning from travels, and rapidly started spreading locally over the weekend.

Twenty-six more cases were confirmed late on Tuesday, bringing the tally now to 82 after authorities confirmed 15 on Monday and 41 on Sunday.

Government agencies are racing to control the spread and a possible outbreak. By Monday, 5,000 out of 6,000 premises in the hot zone of Aljunied Crescent and Sims Drive were inspected for mosquito breeding, and 39 discovered habitats had been destroyed, the Ministry of Health (MOH) and National Environment Agency (NEA) said in a press release.

This is a heat map of the affected areas from Today:

The NEA has also served 400 inaccessible places with notices for inspection. If the owners don't respond in time, authorities will force their way in, it said.

Both MOH and NEA added that 111 people tested negative over the last 24 hours.

Following the news, the U.S., South Korea, Taiwan and Australia have issued travel warnings for pregnant women or those trying to get pregnant from visiting the island state.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Fighting mosquitoes with more mosquitoes

In addition to manual inspections, over the weekend the NEA started releasing modified mosquitos as sabotage.

It released a batch of male mosquitos (which do not bite humans) infected with the bacteria Wolbachia. After mating with the bacteria-carrying males, the female mosquitos will lay eggs that don't hatch.

The exercise is hoped to decrease the population of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes -- the species carrying the Zika and dengue viruses.

It's part of a six-month study, and may be part of the country's future fight against similarly transmitted diseases.