Officers from the National Environment Agency (NEA) yesterday swept into Harvey Crescent to address the mozzie problem, a day after it was announced that someone in the private housing estate had contracted the Zika virus.

Residents in the Simei neighbourhood told The Straits Times that NEA officers came by in the morning to inspect their houses for potential breeding grounds, unclog drains and clean up rubbish in the area.

Fogging was also carried out there yesterday afternoon.

Residents like housewife Mandy Lim, 41, have also started taking precautions of their own.

"I woke up early this morning to spray all our rooms with insecticide and close all our windows before we went out," said Mrs Lim, whose husband and oldest son both got dengue last year.

"There are definitely mosquitoes here. I myself was bitten a few times this morning.

"I also sprayed my son with repellent before he went out to cycle and asked my maid to throw out all the water in the flower pots."

When The Straits Times visited the area yesterday, training consultant W. N. Chan, 65, was spotted clearing leaves and branches from his garden.

"As you can see I'm tidying everything up today, making sure there is no stagnant water," said Mr Chan, who also sprayed insecticide in all his rooms.

"Frankly I'm not scared of the virus. I'm just doing what I can to prevent it from spreading."

MP for East Coast GRC Jessica Tan said vector control measures in the area started before the Harvey Crescent case came to light.

"We have stepped up in the past week by reaching out to residents through house visits and fliers," she said, adding that she and her fellow MPs will be visiting more residents over the weekend to inform them about the Zika situation.

Flushing and oiling of drains and fogging will also be carried out more frequently in East Coast and Fengshan, she said.

"The good news is that no breeding grounds have been found."

Yeo Sam Jo