Life in Bukit Batok has changed for residents - they are burning mosquito coils in their houses, packing food from hawker centres and staying home whenever possible.
Those who do leave home spray insect repellent on themselves while a few have taken to carrying cans of insecticide with them on their jaunts in the neighbourhood.
Mr Lee Yip Choy, 50, is one such mozzie-buster.
Whenever the insurance agent walks his dog, he does so with a can of insecticide in one hand. Every now and then, he stops to examine the open drains surrounding Block 366 where he lives, and sprays them.
'I've taken all the precautions possible at home. I think the mozzies are breeding outdoors,' said Mr Lee, whose wife has just recovered from dengue.
The Aedes aegypti mosquito is the cause of all the buzz in Bukit Batok streets 31, 32 and 34, an area which has been dubbed Singapore's 'dengue central'. It has had 87 reported cases of dengue over 61 days - the highest figure recorded in a single cluster in nine years.
An army of 40 National Environment Agency (NEA) officers descended on the estate over the weekend to comb through its 34 blocks and 2,735 households.
The residents are used to such visits. Over the past two weeks, officers have called on them up to three times, so much so that some residents are slamming their doors in the officers' faces.
Six people have died from dengue this year. Of the 6,318 people diagnosed with it so far, 241 were from Bukit Batok.
The rise in dengue cases was a gradual one. In March and April, homes were found to be breeding Aedes mosquitoes and by May, 210 people were diagnosed with dengue weekly. In July, the numbers crossed the epidemic threshold of 378 when 432 new cases were reported a week.
The numbers have since come down. This week, 182 cases were reported. It is the second consecutive week since mid-May that it has stayed below the 200 mark.
Bukit Batok, however, has bucked the trend. Streets 31, 32 and 34 reported 48 cases last month, up from the 25 in July.
NEA said that the gradual spread of the Aedes population to Bukit Batok in recent years, coupled with residents' low immunity to the virus due to low exposure in the past, explains the high number of cases there.
Three of the 100 households that The Sunday Times visited have had family members infected with dengue. Those in the three households have since recovered. Almost everyone was aware of the outbreak but not all were taking the necessary precautions.
In all, NEA has fined 24 Bukit Batok residents for breeding mosquitoes.
Over 70 households polled have stepped up their checks. They now cap bamboo pole holders, overturn pails, change the water in vases and even check pipes for leaks.
Schools in the neighbourhood have also stepped up their efforts. The fogging sessions are now weekly instead of fortnightly. Swiss Cottage Secondary School bought 400 mosquito patches - mosquito repellent in a plaster form - for students involved in outdoor activities.
Businesses in the area are feeling the sting as well.
At the coffee shop in Block 347, roast duck seller Koh Hock Soon said business had gone down by 30 per cent in the past month.
'Families are worried about their kids, so they'd rather stay home than eat out,' he said.
However, retiree Lim Teck Hin, 74, who lives in Block 360, is not bothered.
'Getting dengue is like striking lottery, I won't be so 'lucky',' he said.
