September 29, 2025
SINGAPORE – As a city-state at the intersection of migratory bird routes, Singapore faces a rising threat of tick-borne diseases, flagged a recent symposium here dedicated to the blood-sucking parasite.
After mosquitoes, ticks are considered to be the second-most concerning living organism that can transmit human diseases, scientists warned at the end-August event to unpack the risks posed by ticks in South-east Asia, where they have historically been poorly understood.
Addressing some 100 researchers at the two-day event, a leader at the Communicable Diseases Agency (CDA) highlighted Singapore’s vulnerability amid an increasing trend of diseases spreading across the globe through migratory birds parasitised by ticks.
Studies in Singapore and abroad have found that ticks can hitch a ride on these birds, presenting a pathway for them to spread their disease-causing agents far away from the regions that these foreign species typically call home.
This risk is compounded by the expansion of green spaces, nature reserves and wildlife corridors, which create new chances for ticks to encounter humans and animals, said Associate Professor Pek Wee Yang, CDA’s deputy chief executive for policy and programmes.
In a bid to boost South-east Asia’s approach towards tackling the arachnid, scientists from 21 countries gathered from Aug 28 to Aug 29 to discuss the latest research and best practices for handling ticks and their diseases.
Notably, the second edition of the South-east Asia Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases Symposium, held at the National University of Singapore, revealed that a potentially fatal tick-borne disease had been detected in humans for the first time across the border in Malaysia.
This marks a further spread of the severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV) southwards beyond Thailand, despite a lack of evidence that its main disease-spreading carrier – the Asian longhorn tick (Haemaphysalis longicornis) – can thrive in tropical environments.
The infectious disease native to North Asia is most commonly transmitted by tick bites, and, when critical, can cause multiple organs to fail within 14 days after exposure, resulting in death.
At the symposium, microbiologist Kamruddin Ahmed from Universiti Malaysia Sabah shared how his team had found traces of the disease in the Kudat district of Sabah state.
The full findings are slated to be published by the end of 2025, he told The Straits Times.
“This is a seroepidemiology study; it only determines the possible exposure to the virus,” noted Professor Kamruddin. “The participants who tested positive were all healthy and had not shown signs of illness related to SFTSV.”
Discovery of the virus was not unexpected given that it has already been detected in the South-east Asian countries of Vietnam and Thailand, both of which share similar environments, he added.
Prof Kamruddin said further studies are needed to find out whether the virus is prevalent in other regions of Malaysia, as well as whether it originated internally or from elsewhere.
Assessing the risk of the virus for Singapore, the CDA told ST that as at Sept 19, sustained transmission in the community here is likely to be low as there is no evidence of the ticks that are known to transmit the virus in Singapore.
While transmission of the virus through contact with blood or respiratory secretions from an infected person or animal is possible, such scenarios are rare, CDA said.
Still, there is a risk of the virus arriving with travellers from countries where the virus has been recorded, as Singapore is a travel and transportation hub, it noted.
The virus was first reported in central China in 2009, before patients also turned up in the US, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam and South Korea. None of these patients travelled abroad, suggesting that the virus occurs naturally in these countries.
To date, there have been no confirmed cases of SFTS detected in Singapore.
Said CDA: “Travellers going to endemic countries should take precautions to prevent tick bites.”
CDA’s Prof Pek called for a coordinated approach at the local, regional and international levels, saying the borderless nature of tick ecology, coupled with the impact of climate change, will require a united effort across South-east Asia.
As the world heats up due to human-driven climate change, ticks are more likely to survive in areas that were once too cold for them, making it easier for them to establish themselves as an invasive species.
One of the gaps highlighted by the speakers is the need for better surveillance of the risk of infections caused by ticks in the region, despite ongoing work to map the prevalence of the creatures.
In the Philippines, for instance, there is no countrywide data on how prevalent ticks are.
Even in Singapore, a $2.4 million sum set aside to fund research into ticks and tick-borne diseases will not be sufficient to fully cover the surveillance needed, the National Parks Board’s group director of veterinary health Chua Tze Hoong told participants.
This comes despite the risk of the arachnids carrying at least three kinds of disease-causing agents at the same time.
Cognisant of the many gaps when it comes to managing ticks, immunologist Benoit Malleret, who helped organise the symposium, said it was designed to foster collaboration in areas such as the creation of a regional reference laboratory for Rickettsia, a type of bacteria often transmitted by ticks to humans and animals.
The assistant professor at NUS’ Department of Microbiology and Immunology said: “The programme aimed to generate momentum for joint research, capacity building and knowledge exchange among scientists, public health officials and stakeholders working on ticks and tick-borne diseases.”