In 2014 with Dengue Fever considered an epidemic, Brazil released GM mosquitoes to fake out the aedes aegypti mosquitoes and hopefully contain the rising epidemic. The fake mosquitoes were sterile and once they wooed all the females, the species would quickly die out. But that didn’t happen. Within a few months of the release of the GM mosquitoes, a new type of mutated chikungunya virus appeared, more deadly than ever. It migrated to the Caribbean Islands, Puerto Rico and Florida where it has infected a small portion of the population.
For years Brazil has continued its fogging method of dousing entire neighborhoods with insecticides to try and control the rising mosquito population. But the insecticides have their own host of health risks and problems. According to a report by CCE and CERI, the use of insecticide only created a more viral and formidable mosquito immune to the once lethal spray. A Super mosquito was born.
In the meantime, more radical spraying attempted to disway the growing population of mosquitoes. There are four pesticides used to control mosquitoes; Scourge, Anvil, Permethrin and Malathion. Each of these have some level of toxicity to humans and are linked to liver and thyroid diseases, immune deficiency, endocrine problems, tumor growth, cancers of the reproductive organs, prostate and breast cancer, and birth defects. The birth defects include; Down Syndrome, cleft palette, spina bifida, club foot, heart defects, autism, learning disabilities, and infertility. Those defects were found in women exposed to household use of pesticides, their exposure was limited.
These same pesticides are lethal to fish, invertebrates, and wildlife.
Could the introduction of a GM mosquito have led to the creation of a Super Monster mosquito? And could the birth defect, microcephaly, be related to exposure to massive amounts of pesticides?
While many media articles make the statement that the Zika virus caused the microcephaly cases in Brazil, that has not been proven, it is at this stage a ‘theory’ that is being investigated. Birth defects in poor nations is a problem and has been for decades if not centuries. Micrcephaly is a neurological disorder that could just as easily be caused by the toxins in the pesticides, or incest, or poor nutrition during pregnancy, or a host of other issues. Or it could be caused by the mosquito.
The reality is – no one knows much of anything at this stage which is why a vaccine could be years away from being created and approved. The one absolute that they do know is that the actual virus is no different than a mild flu and that 80% of those bitten by the mosquito don’t get the virus or any symptoms at all. Period.
Instilling fear is not useful. Instilling caution and fact is useful.
A recent post by Betsy McCaughey, PhD, would seem rather uninformed about the Zika virus in specifics, Brazil’s fogging, the failure of the GM mosquito’s, the mosquito prevalence in the US, and pesticides. Instead, she would have the US lathered in a fog of pesticides that are known toxins which will douse ‘everyone’ in a fume and funnel of health hazards…
Not cool.