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Malaria Cases In U.S. Trigger Unfounded Claims About Bill Gates, Mosquito Project

On June 26, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued an alert after five cases ... [+] of malaria were confirmed, the first locally acquired cases of the disease in the United States in 20 years. Four cases of the mosquito-borne illness were confirmed in Florida and one in Texas. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP) (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images)

AFP via Getty Images

When the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued an alert about finding four malaria cases in Florida and one malaria case in Texas, it created quite a buzz. After all, these were the first reported cases of people actually catching malaria in the U.S. Since 2003. Finding these five cases has raised questions about whether malaria may return to the U.S. After being largely absent for many years and whether climate change may be opening the gates for Anopheles mosquitoes to spread in the U.S. That would kind of suck since the females of certain Anopheles mosquito species can carry and transmit malaria-causing parasites. This news also opened the gates in another way—allowing a flood of even more conspiracy theories about billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates to be spread across social media. This included claims that Gates was somehow responsible for these new malaria cases via a project that has released genetically-modified mosquitoes in the U.S. However, such claims really provided zzzzzero supporting evidence and, in fact, detracted from what's really happened.

For example, Liz Churchill, who even calls herself a "conspiracy theorist" on her Twitter bio, sent out a tweet that hit the fan and spread with over 23.5K re-tweets. Her tweet said, "It must be a coincidence that from 2003-2023 there wasn't one case of Malaria spread by mosquitos…and along comes a company funded by Bill Gates…to solve a problem that didn't exist…and suddenly in the exact places where he releases mosquitos…there's an outbreak of Malaria?"

Yeah, that malarious tweet got a lot of things wrong. First of all, Churchill was presumably referring to Oxitec, a company that has indeed released genetically-modified mosquitoes in the Florida Keys, which, by the way, isn't in Sarasota County where the four malaria cases in Florida. The Florida Keys are also nowhere near Texas. While Oxitec has received support from the bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, it wasn't specifically for this Florida Keys project.

Plus, there was a "you got male" problem with Churchill's tweet. Oxitec released genetically-modified, male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes as opposed to female Anopheles mosquitoes. These are two different sexes and two very different mosquito species. While Aedes aegypti mosquitoes can carry various organisms that can cause Dengue, Zika, yellow fever and chikungunya, they typically do not carry the Plasmodium parasites that can cause malaria. Again, only certain types of Anopheles mosquitoes can carry and transmit the malaria-causing parasite to humans. And among these Anopheles mosquitoes, only the females are out for blood, so to speak. Only the females bite—meaning bite and suck the blood of humans.

Additionally, when Churchill claimed that Oxitec is trying to "solve a problem that didn't exist," she got it wrong, wrong like a bathroom gong. Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are a problem—a big little problem. As I recently reported for Forbes, dengue is a problem throughout many parts of the world—a real growing problem. And Zika has been a problem, assuming that you think babies born without brains is a problem. I covered the Zika epidemic back in 2016 for Forbes, and the Zika virus remains a threat for future cases and outbreaks. Yellow fever and chikungunya aren't fun things either. And as more and more of the world becomes more like an Easy-Bake Oven with climate change, the tropical and sub-tropical weather-loving Aedes aegypti mosquitoes may keep spreading more and more Northward and bringing along with them these various diseases.

One possible way of combatting such growing problems is to introduce genetically-modified mosquitoes that in turn can keep the mosquito population from growing. Such genetically-modified mosquitoes are like some genetically-modified organized (GMO) used as food. They aren't being modified to taste better. Instead, they are being genetically-modified so that they can help curb the mosquito population. When these genetically-modified male mosquitoes get it on like Donkey Kong with female Aedes aegypti, they can pass along a gene to any resulting female offspring. That gene essentially serves as ticking time bomb—or perhaps a mosquitoing time bomb—that will lead to the early death of such offspring. Fewer viable offspring could mean fewer mosquitoes in the long run.

Scientists are still testing the viability of employing such a strategy at a larger scale. So, the key to the release in the Florida Keys was that it was limited to that location and subject to ongoing subsequent surveillance to see what happens.

Microsoft founder, Co-Chairman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill Gates (L) and Irish rock ... [+] band U2 singer Bono arrive at Lyon's city hall, central eastern France, on October 9, 2019, during the funding conference of Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. - The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria on October 9, 2019, opened a drive to raise $14 billion to fight a global epidemics. (Photo by OLIVIER CHASSIGNOLE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Churchill's tweet was a bit ironic, given that the Gates Foundation has stated that "Malaria eradication is a top priority of the foundation." Over the past two decades, they have supported projects aiming to improve the surveillance, prevention, and treatment of malaria. Their work has primarily been in low and middle income countries. So it is unclear why they would want to do anything that would go against their top priority. Churchill didn't really provide any evidence that would reconcile this seeming contradiction.

Churchill certainly wasn't the only one to post such evidence-free claims about Gates on social media. For example, a Twitter account that goes by the handle @DC_Draino tweeted, "I'd say it's time for Gov. DeDantis to announce his plan to tackle the resurgence of Malaria in Florida. Did he allow Bill Gates' GMO mosquitoes in the state?" The Twitter bio for this account includes the name Rogan O'Handley, calls itself "Anti-Woke" and includes a photo of Tucker Carlson. By the way, a June 30 tweet from @DC_Driano indicated, "Last night I was asked by @FLVoiceNews why I'm supporting President Trump over Gov. DeSantis. 'I want the guy with the most impeachments, the most indictments, the most investigations because that is who the deep state fears the most.'" So, could @DC_Draino be attempting to politicize a public health problem? Gee, when has that ever happened before in the U.S.?

Although public health efforts were able to effectively eliminate malaria from the United States in the early 1950s, there is no guarantee that this potentially life-threatening disease won't return. You don't want MAMA to happen, meaning to make America malaria-full again. Prior to the 1880s, malaria was a real problem in the U.S., affecting most populated areas in the country. The recent of these five locally-transmitted malaria cases in Florida and Texas doesn't necessarily that malaria will surge again in the U.S. There have been 11 malaria outbreaks in the U.S. Since 1992 with the last one prior to this year occuring in 2003 in Palm Beach County, Florida, according to Angelo Fichera reporting for the AP News.

Nevertheless, these five recent case of malaria transmission in the U.S. Are a reminder that infectious diseases such as malaria can readily return if disease control efforts are not maintained. There is a need for ways to better control the mosquito population. Just winging it won't work. And even though various conspiracy theories about public health efforts may create a buzz on social media, they can make controlling the spread of diseases all that more difficult.

Bill Gates Funded The Company Releasing Gene-Hacked Mosquitoes

The British biotech company Oxitec is moving ahead with its controversial plan to release hundreds of millions of gene-hacked mosquitoes, an experimental new form of targeted pest control, in the Florida Keys.

The goal is essentially to introduce a new genetically altered version of the Aedes aegypti mosquito — which can spread diseases like dengue and malaria — that can only hatch male, non-biting offspring, in order to gradually reduce the population.

A connection that has gone mostly unremarked during the experiment's rollout is the involvement of Microsoft co-founder and public health philanthropist Bill Gates in the funding of the company, confirmed by Oxitec back in 2018, through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Based on past reports, it seems that the Gates Foundation pledged about $4.1 million to Oxitec in 2018 to develop a new mosquito that would target malaria in the Americas, South Asia, and eastern Africa. Oxitec was also reportedly awarded $5 million for its Aedes mosquitoes — the kind set for release in Florida — through the Gates Foundation's Global Grand Challenges initiative in 2010. Meanwhile, Science Magazine reported in 2010 that the Gates Foundation had dished out $19.7 million for a project in which Oxitec took part.

We've reached out to both Oxitec and the Gates Foundation for clarification about the relationship.

Gates' involvement complicates the already much-criticized initiative. On the one hand, the experiment could lead to an extraordinary way to control disease, potentially saving hundreds of thousands of lives per year. But critics say it could fail, backfire, or open up the doors to more troubling applications of the technology. And the idea that one of the world's wealthiest people can help push through gene-editing experiments that are unleashed on the open ecosystem is, to say the least, a touchy subject.

Eradicating malaria has long been high on the list of Gates' priorities. His philanthropic investment foundation has been pouring money into various fields like malaria vaccine research for years, and he's been pushing for the idea of using genetically modified mosquitoes to eliminate the disease since 2016. That's just one year after Oxitec finished its first mass mosquito release in Brazil.

"Genetically-modified mosquitoes are showing promise in controlling other vector-borne diseases, so we look forward to exploring their use alongside complementary interventions for malaria," Gates Foundation malaria director Philip Welkhoff said in a press release at the time.

Let's be clear. Gates has often been a magnet for totally unsubstantiated conspiracy theories, when in reality he's contributed billions to worthy causes during his second act as a philanthropist. But he's also sometimes been criticized for making poor public health calls, as when he recently argued that the US shouldn't share COVID-19 vaccine formulas with poorer countries. In this case of Florida, some aspects of the gene-edited mosquito release seem rushed, poorly communicated, and badly received by local residents.

As Futurism previously reported, the mosquito release in Florida is fiercely opposed by a significant portion of the local community, as well as outside activists and experts — though many say that with better controls and more advance research, they'd be more open to the trial in their community.

But for now, critics say there are scientific flaws with Oxitec's plan for the Florida release and insufficient safety testing. There's no independently-vetted evidence that the mosquitoes will actually reduce disease transmission in Florida or that they won't cause new problems of their own in the environment. Many in the community say they feel the experiment is being forced on them with no way to opt out other than packing up and leaving the area.

"I find this criminal, that we are being bullied into this experiment," said one resident at a recent town council meeting. "I find it criminal that we are being subjected to this terrorism by our own Florida Keys Mosquito Control Board."

READ MORE: Gates Foundation and Oxitec Fight Malaria with Genetically-Modified Mosquitoes [Labiotech]

More on Oxitec: Residents Furious at Release of 500 Million Gene-Hacked Mosquitoes

Bill Gates: Mosquitoes Should Be Genetically Modified To End Malaria

Bill Approves Image source: BGR

Scientists have already started creating genetically modified mosquitoes that are either infertile or resistant to the malaria parasite using CRISPR, a powerful and controversial gene-editing tool. Recently though, Bill Gates spoke up, endorsing the use of CRISPR, to create malaria-resistant mosquitoes.

CRISPR effectively identifies and snips out the naturally occurring form of DNA when it appears in offspring, thus promising to rapidly spread malaria-resistance through mosquito populations.

"Gene drives, I do think, over the next three to five years will be developed in a form that will be extremely beneficial," Gates said in the interview, ahead of speaking at the American Society for Microbiology conference in Boston. "Of course, that makes it a key tool to reduce malaria deaths."

Malaria affects more than 200 million people each year and kills nearly 500,000, most of whom are children, according to the World Health Organization. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is a staunch supporter in the fight against malaria, even giving out a $150 million grant in 2014 to develop vaccines.

Regulating CRISPR

Although Gates is endorsing the use of CRISPR, the tool still raises ethical issues in the scientific community. For one, editing genes could result in unexpected side effects on the species. Because of the editing, a ripple effect could occur through the populations and their ecosystems. Also, people generally get scared whenever they hear the words "genetically modified."

Policy makers and a number of scientists are trying to regulate the use of CRISPR. They assert that safeguards for this technology must be pioneered in order to limit the spread of it outside of the lab, and that a public dialogue is needed before any gene-editing experiment could begin.

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