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Breaking: Zika Outbreak Epicenter in Same Area Where GM Mosquitoes Were Released in 2015
29 January, 2015
(ANTIMEDIA) U.S.A.
— The
World Health Organization announced it will convene an
Emergency Committee under International Health Regulations on Monday,
February 1, concerning the Zika virus ‘explosive’ spread
throughout the Americas. The virus reportedly has the potential to
reach pandemic proportions — possibly around the globe. But
understandingwhy this
outbreak happened is vital to curbing it. As the WHOstatement said:
“A
causal relationship between Zika virus infection and birth
malformations and neurological syndromes … is strongly suspected.
[These links] have rapidly changed the risk profile of Zika, from a
mild threat to one of alarming proportions.
“WHO
is deeply concerned about this rapidly evolving situation for 4 main
reasons: the possible association of infection with birth
malformations and neurological syndromes; the potential for further
international spread given the wide geographical distribution of the
mosquito vector; the lack of population immunity in newly affected
areas; and the absence of vaccines, specific treatments, and rapid
diagnostic tests […]
“The
level of concern is high, as is the level of uncertainty.”
Zika
seemingly exploded out of nowhere. Though it was first discovered in
1947, cases only sporadically occurred throughout Africa and southern
Asia. In 2007, the first case was reported in the Pacific. In 2013, a
smattering of small outbreaks and individual cases were officially
documented in Africa and the western Pacific. They also began showing
up in the Americas. In May 2015, Brazil reported its first case of
Zika virus — and the situation changed dramatically.
Brazil
is now considered the
epicenter of the Zika outbreak, which coincides with at least 4,000
reports of babies born with microcephaly just
since October.
When
examining a rapidly expanding potential pandemic, it’s necessary to
leave no stone unturned so possible solutions, as well as future
prevention, will be as effective as possible. In that vein, there was
another significant development in 2015.
Oxitec
first unveiled its
large-scale, genetically-modified mosquito farm in Brazil in July
2012, with the goal of reducing “the
incidence of dengue fever,” as The
Disease Daily reported.
Dengue fever is spread by the same Aedes mosquitoes which spread the
Zika virus — and though they “cannot
fly more than 400 meters,” WHO
stated, “it
may inadvertently be transported by humans from one place to
another.” By
July 2015, shortly after the GM mosquitoes were first released into
the wild in Juazeiro, Brazil, Oxitec proudly announced they
had “successfully
controlled the Aedes aegypti mosquito that spreads dengue fever,
chikungunya and zika virus, by reducing the target population by more
than 90%.”
Though
that might sound like an astounding success — and, arguably, it was
— there is an alarming possibility to consider.
Nature,
as one Redditor keenly pointed
out,
finds a way — and the effort to control dengue, zika, and other
viruses, appears to have backfired dramatically.
Juazeiro,
Brazil — the location where genetically-modified mosquitoes were
first released into the wild.
Map
showing the concentration of suspected Zika-related cases
of microcephaly in
Brazil.
The
particular strain of Oxitec GM mosquitoes, OX513A, are genetically
altered so the vast majority of their offspring will die before they
mature — though Dr. Ricarda Steinbrecher published concerns in
a report
in September 2010 that
a known survival rate of 3-4 percent warranted further study before
the release of the GM insects. Her concerns, which were echoed by
several other scientists both at the time and since, appear to have
been ignored — though they should not have been.
Those
genetically-modified mosquitoes work to control wild, potentially
disease-carrying populations in a very specific manner. Only the male
modified Aedes mosquitoes are supposed to be released into the wild —
as they will mate with their unaltered female counterparts. Once
offspring are produced, the modified, scientific facet is supposed to
‘kick in’ and kill that larvae before it reaches breeding age —
if tetracycline is not present during its development.
But there is a
problem.
According
to an unclassified document from
the Trade and Agriculture Directorate Committee for Agriculture dated
February 2015, Brazil is the third largest in “global
antimicrobial consumption in food animal production” —
meaning, Brazil is third in the world for its use of tetracycline in
its food animals. As a study by the American Society of Agronomy, et.
al., explained, “It
is estimated that approximately 75% of antibiotics are not absorbed
by animals and are excreted in waste.” One
of the antibiotics (or antimicrobials) specifically named in that
report for its environmental persistence is tetracycline.
In
fact, as a confidential internal
Oxitec document divulged
in 2012, that survival rate could be as high as 15% — even with low
levels of tetracycline present. “Even
small amounts of tetracycline can repress” the
engineered lethality. Indeed, that 15% survival rate was described by
Oxitec:
“After
a lot of testing and comparing experimental design, it was found that
[researchers] had used a cat food to feed the [OX513A] larvae and
this cat food contained chicken. It is known that tetracycline is
routinely used to prevent infections in chickens, especially in the
cheap, mass produced, chicken used for animal food. The chicken is
heat-treated before being used, but this does not remove all the
tetracycline. This meant that a small amount of tetracycline was
being added from the food to the larvae and repressing the [designed]
lethal system.”
Even
absent this tetracycline, as Steinbrecher explained, a
“sub-population” of genetically-modified Aedes mosquitoes could
theoretically develop and thrive, in theory, “capable of
surviving and flourishing despite any further” releases of
‘pure’ GM mosquitoes which still have that gene intact. She
added, “the effectiveness of the system also depends on the
[genetically-designed] late onset of the lethality. If the time of
onset is altered due to environmental conditions … then a 3-4%
[survival rate] represents a much bigger problem…”
As
the WHO stated in its press release, “conditions associated
with this year’s El Nino weather pattern are expected to increase
mosquito populations greatly in many areas.”
Incidentally,
President Obama called for a massive
research effort to
develop a vaccine for the Zika virus, as one does not currently
exist. Brazil has now called in 200,000
soldiers to
somehow help combat the virus’ spread. Aedes mosquitoes have
reportedly been spotted in
the U.K. But perhaps the most ironic — or not —proposition was
proffered on January 19, by the MIT
Technology Review:
“An
outbreak in the Western Hemisphere could give countries including the
United States new reasons to try wiping out mosquitoes with genetic
engineering.
“Yesterday,
the Brazilian city of Piracicaba said it would expand the use of
genetically modified mosquitoes …
“The
GM mosquitoes were created by Oxitec, a British company recently
purchased by Intrexon, a synthetic biology company based in Maryland.
The company said it has released bugs in parts of Brazil and the
Cayman Islands to battle dengue fever.”
This
article was written by Claire
Bernish for
theAntiMedia.org.
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