emirates7 - Singapore will conduct temperature screening for travellers arriving on flights from areas where Nipah virus outbreaks have been reported, the Communicable Diseases Agency said on Wednesday.

The Ministry of Manpower will also step up surveillance of newly arrived migrant workers from South Asia and work with the ministry’s primary care providers to increase vigilance.

The measures form part of Singapore’s initial response to the Nipah virus outbreak in West Bengal, where two cases have been reported.

Singapore is closely monitoring the outbreak, which is the seventh recorded in India since 2001.

The Nipah virus is transmitted mainly through exposure to bats and consumption of date palm sap or fruit contaminated by bats.

The agency said that ongoing bio-surveillance programmes monitoring Singapore’s bat populations since 2011 have not detected the virus in the country.