In the US state of Massachusetts, measures are taken against mosquitoes that spread a a rare fatal disease. There have been claims on social media that Bill Gates is behind the new epidemic. DV checked the facts.
In mid-August, health authorities in the American state of Massachusetts announced that they had registered the first case of a patient infected with Eastern equine encephalomyelitis (Eastern equine encephalitis - EEE). At the end of the month, the first death was registered - in the neighboring state of New Hampshire.
The disease Eastern equine encephalomyelitis is transmitted by certain mosquitoes, US health officials explain. In 30 percent of cases, the disease ends fatally. Those who undergo it are often left with neurological complaints. There is currently no vaccine or medicine for it. Therefore, several American states have already taken measures to reduce the risk of mosquito bites - in some places, restrictive regimes have been introduced for people and pesticides are used to control mosquitoes.
Does Bill Gates have anything to do with Eastern Equine Encephalomyelitis cases in the US?
Claim: Many users on social networks make a connection between the cases of Eastern equine encephalomyelitis and the genetically modified mosquitoes of the company “Oxitec”, in which the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation also has a stake.
One user in X wrote: “Bill Gates is funding a company that has been granted experimental permission to create millions of genetically modified mosquitoes and release them in various US states so that people can be vaccinated through mosquito bites. Now in the USA there is Eastern equine encephalitis, kurz EEE) ”. On Facebook, another wrote: “Eastern equine encephalomyelitis is transmitted by mosquitoes. Bill Gates invests in genetically modified mosquitoes. What are the chances of a pandemic in the US before the election?”.
Fact Check: False.
The mosquito is one of the most dangerous insects in the world. Female mosquitoes are the only ones that bite and transmit disease. Each year, over 700,000 people worldwide die from mosquito-borne diseases. In an attempt to combat this problem, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation supports the company "Oxytech", which received official permission to test genetically modified mosquitoes in Florida. The goal is to reduce the mosquito population.
“Male mosquitoes are genetically engineered to be sterile. If a female mates with such a male, there are no viable offspring. Over time, it reduces the mosquito population, and this has been used successfully in Brazil, says Amesh Adalya of the Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins University. Such research methods have been studied for some time using other sterilized animals, for example irradiated worms in agriculture.
Only female mosquitoes carry EEE because only they bite
At the request of “Oxitek” confirmed that no genetically modified mosquitoes have been released in Massachusetts. The last release of such was in Florida in November 2023 - so the genetically modified mosquitoes are unlikely to be linked spatially or temporally to the current outbreak of the disease. And since the modified mosquitoes are only male and don't bite, they couldn't transmit encephalomyelitis themselves.
The virus existed long before the use of genetically modified mosquitoes. “We have known about the virus for 90 years. Intermittent outbreaks occur from time to time when suitable climatic conditions are present. We've had a wet and warm summer this year, which is ideal breeding conditions for mosquitoes, especially mosquitoes that carry the Eastern Equine Encephalomyelitis virus,” said Philip M. Armstrong, scientific director of the entomology division at the Center for Vector Biology and Zoonotic Diseases in Connecticut.
Bill Gates - the big villain in dozens of conspiracy theories
Bill Gates is often the subject of misinformation and conspiracy theories. Users on social networks suspected that the genetically modified mosquitoes of “Oxitek” are behind the dengue outbreak in Brazil earlier this year and the malaria cases in the US last year. During the coronavirus pandemic, the founder of “Microsoft” was accused of secretly implanting people with microchips containing a Covid-19 vaccine. In India, however, fake news spread that he was on trial for illegally testing polio vaccines on children.
Actually, Bill Gates is one of the richest people in the world. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, founded by him and his ex-wife, is the largest private foundation in the world. Since its founding in 2017, it has invested tens of billions of euros in thousands of projects and organizations in the health sector around the world, such as vaccination programs and vaccine research.
In fact, Gates' large influence on global health is one of the things that makes many people view him with suspicion and fuels numerous fakes. The billionaire is extremely suitable for a “villain”, which is why he becomes the subject of numerous conspiracy theories. The public's deep skepticism towards the elite is one of the most typical causes of fake news.