Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 100 Page 101 Page 102 Page 103 Page 104 Page 105 Page 106 Page 107 Page 108 Page 109 Page 110 Page 111 Page 112 Page 113 Page 114 Page 115 Page 116 Page 117 Page 118 Page 119 Page 120 Page 121 Page 122 Page 123 Page 124 Page 125 Page 126 Page 127 Page 128 Page 129 Page 130 Page 131 Page 132 Page 133 Page 134 Page 135 Page 136 Page 137 Page 138 Page 139 Page 140 Page 141 Page 142 Page 143 Page 144 Page 145 Page 146 Page 147 Page 14827 26 NEA plays a key role in ensuring that the people of Singapore enjoy a high standard of public health. One of the ways we achieve this is by emphasising on the prevention of vector-borne diseases from mosquitoes, rodents, flies, fleas and cockroaches, and the control of outbreaks of diseases caused by contaminated food. Another area that NEA focuses on is by adopting a multi-pronged approach to ensure good food hygiene standards in Singapore by safeguarding the safety of food consumed in Singapore. Food handlers working in food establishments must be registered with NEA and pass the mandatory Basic Food Hygiene Course. We also inspect food retail outlets regularly and take strict enforcement action against any errant food retail outlets. In addition, we conduct regular food sampling checks and we prosecute operators whose food is found to be contaminated. MOH worked with the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) of Singapore and NEA to investigate the uptrend in the number of Group B Streptococcus (GBS) cases reported between January and July 2015. Preliminary findings by MOH in July 2015 suggested an association between the consumption of raw fish and GBS infections. To safeguard public health, NEA issued an advisory on 24 July 2015 to retail food establishments to temporarily stop the sale of ready-to-eat raw fish dishes using Song fish (also known as Asian Bighead Carp) and Toman fish (also known as Snakehead fish), both of which had tested positive for the GBS bacteria. Ingestion of GBS-contaminated fish had previously not been known to cause human diseases. The outbreak spurred NEA to build up laboratory capability to detect GBS in fish. AVA and NEA found that freshwater fish have significantly higher bacterial contamination than saltwater fish, and were likely to present higher risks of infection when consumed raw. NEA followed up by issuing food establishments guidelines on Good Hygiene Practices and Proper Handling of Ready-to-eat Raw Fish in November to ensure that raw fish dishes are prepared hygienically. This was followed by a ban on the use of freshwater fish in all ready-to-eat raw fish dishes sold by retail food establishments on 5 December 2015, since such fish was found to have significantly higher bacterial contamination than saltwater fish. Food stalls KEEPING PUBLIC HEALTH THREATS AT BAY Contained outbreak associated with ready-to-eat raw fish Controlling bacterial contamination through food (including hawker centres, coffee shops, canteens and food courts) and food establishments providing catering services were also required to stop the sale of all ready-to-eat raw fish dishes using saltwater fish until they comply with the practices required for preparing the dish. The measures proved effective. A downtrend in the number of GBS cases was seen from mid-July 2015, to less than five cases per week, compared with an average of 20 cases per week seen since the beginning of 2015. ban on the use of freshwater fish in all ready-to-eat raw fish dishes sold by retail food establishments NEA ANNUAL REPORT 2015 / 2016 NEA ANNUAL REPORT 2015 / 2016