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SINGAPORE, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Singapore confirmed 26 more cases of locally-transmitted Zika infections, the health ministry and National Environment Agency said in a joint statement on Saturday, bringing the tally to 215.
Zika infections in pregnant women have been shown to cause microcephaly - a severe birth defect in which the head and brain are undersized - as well as other brain abnormalities.
The connection between Zika and microcephaly first came to light last fall in Brazil, which has since confirmed more than 1,800 cases of microcephaly.
In adults, Zika infections have also been linked to a rare neurological syndrome known as Guillain-Barre, as well as other neurological disorders.
The virus was first identified in Uganda in 1947 and was unknown in the Americas until 2014.