In the past decade, Singapore has been confronted by outbreaks caused by novel viruses, namely Nipah virus in 1999, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus in 2003, and chikungunya virus in 2008. While Nipah virus and SARS coronavirus disappeared after causing a season of crisis, we continue to see importation of the chikungunya virus after the initial elimination in 2009. In early 2013, chikungunya fever re-emerged in Singapore, culminating in 1059 cases by the end of the year. At the point of writing this commentary, the transmission has subsided.
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