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A deadly epidemic is spreading across the Americas. Since January 2016, a widespread
outbreak of Zika fever has been devastating Brazil, Colombia, the Caribbean, and many
other countries across South and Central America.
The World Health Organisation has declared that the Zika virus is a public health emergency
of international concern. Around 1.5 million cases have already been reported in Brazil
alone, and experts predict that by the end of 2016 as many as 4 million people will be
infected by this mosquito-borne disease.
The virus has been linked to debilitating birth defects and neurological disorders,
and it can also be sexually transmitted.
Zika has spawned an outbreak of conspiracy theories that connect the spread of the disease
to genetically modified mosquitos, population control, and a secret Rockefeller laboratory
experiment.
But is any of it true, and will we ever find a cure for the disease?
The Zika virus can cause a fever, sore eyes, a rash, joint pain, and a headache. But 80%
of those infected are asymptomatic, and this could be having a devastating impact on babies
developing in the womb, causing a surge in a birth defect in the Americas called ‘microcephaly’.
Microcephaly is a condition that causes fetuses’ brains to stop growing, leaving newborns with
severe learning disabilities and a shorter life expectancy. In 2014 there were fewer
than 150 cases of microcephaly in Brazil. But since October 2015, more than 4,800 cases
have been reported.
Women in this region have been advised not to get pregnant until a vaccine has been developed
to stop increasing cases of microcephaly. But according to pathology expert Dr. Alan
Barrett, a vaccine could take more than a decade and $1.5 billion dollars to develop.
But while we engineer a preventative medicine for Zika fever, there is evidence to suggest
that humans may also be responsible for the outbreak itself.
One rumor circulating online is that the Zika pandemic is caused by genetically modified
mosquitos, which were released by a biotechnology company called Oxitec.
Conspiracy writer Claire Bernish has noted an alarming causal link between these two
incidents: The virus epicenter, Brazil, is the same location where GM mosquitos were
released by Oxitec in 2015.
Oxitec first unveiled its GM mosquito farm in 2012, which was created to reduce the spread
of dengue fever. Both dengue fever and Zika are caused by an arbovirus, which is spread
through the Aedes [ay-deez] mosquito.
Oxitec’s GM program designed a unique strain of the aedes mosquito, called OX513A, which
can only survive in the wild with an antibiotic present, called tetracycline [tetra-sy-klin].
This means that aedes mosquito larvae will die before they’re able to breed.
At the time, scientists voiced their concerns about the potential side effects of releasing
GM mosquitoes.
A 2010 report from Dr. Ricarda Steinbrecher [stayeen-brekker], and an internal memo from
Oxitec, claim that anywhere between 4 and 15% of GM mosquitoes and their offspring can
survive without the antibiotic tetracycline.
What’s more, an unclassified document from the OECD Trade and Agriculture Directorate
reports that Brazil is the third largest country in the world for its use of tetracycline in
animal-source food. This means that higher levels of tetracycline in Brazil’s environment
could increase the survival rate of GM mosquitoes.
Is it possible that Oxitec has in fact engineered and released additional deadly mosquitos into
the wild?
Most scientists disagree – surely there is a simpler explanation for Zika’s recent
appearance? Contrary to media hype, the Zika virus did not spring out of nowhere. In 1947,
Scottish virologist George *** and researcher Alexander Haddow [haddo] isolated the virus
from a rhesus monkey in Uganda’s Zika forest. It’s suspected that that the current outbreak
was caused by a traveler who brought the disease to Brazil during the World Cup in 2014.
Science writer Christie Wilcox has debunked the Zika conspiracy by referring to the fact
that epidemiologists have now tracked the outbreak to the exact location where it originated
– the city of Recife [He-see-fee], Brazil, which is almost 400 miles away from the nearest
Oxitec GM mosquito release location. This throws into question why the first cases of
microcephaly occurred in Recife, and not at the mosquito release point.
As for Brazil’s high levels of tetracycline, Glen Slade, who is the director of Oxitec’s
Brazilian branch, claims that GM mosquito larvae are highly unlikely to survive the
harsh conditions of the wild into adulthood, even with access to the antibiotic.
But conspiracy theorists aren’t convinced by these findings. Some reports suggest that
the Zika virus was patented by the Rockefeller Foundation, because one of its discoverers,
Haddow, worked for the Foundation. Natural News writer L.J. Devon speculates that the
disease could be a bio-weapon that targets pregnant women as a means of population control.
While scientists continue to refute these claims, their biggest challenge right now
is finding prevention for this relentless disease.