The Health Department in the US state of Massachusetts In mid-August, the U.S. announced the first case of a person infected with Eastern equine encephalomyelitis (EEE) this year. At the end of August, the neighboring U.S. state of New Hampshire reported the first death of an infected person in 2024.
EEE is transmitted by certain mosquitoes, and according to the US health authority CDC, the disease is fatal in 30 percent of cases. Many people are left with neurological problems after recovering from the disease. There is currently no vaccine or medication.
Several US states have therefore now Measures taken to reduce the risk of mosquito bites: such as the introduction of temporary and local lockdowns and the use of pesticides to control the mosquito population.
Claim: On social media, many users are making a connection between the current cases of EEE in the USA and the release of genetically modified mosquitoes bred by the company Oxitec – funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (here, here, here and here) .
As in this X-Post, a connection between EEE and Bill Gates is often suggested. Image: X
One X-user comments: “Bill Gates is funding a biotech company that has received experimental approval to produce millions of genetically modified mosquitoes in various US states that will allow people to be vaccinated through mosquito bites. (EEE) is now in the US states.”
On Facebook, someone writes: “EEE is transmitted by mosquitoes. Bill Gates has invested in genetically modified mosquitoes. What are the chances of a sudden pandemic of EEE in the US before the upcoming election?” So does billionaire Bill Gates have anything to do with EEE?
Image: X
DW fact check: Incorrect
The mosquito is one of the most dangerous insects in the world. The females – only they bite – can transmit various types of pathogens, including viruses, and parasites. Every year More than 700,000 people die worldwide from mosquito-borne diseases.
To combat this public health problem, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation including the company Oxitec, which is experimenting with genetically modified mosquitoes. In 2020, the biotech company officially received permissionto be able to release the mosquitoes bred in the laboratory – but geographically limited to Florida. The goal is to reduce the pest population.
“Male mosquitoes are genetically modified to be sterile. If a female mates with such a male, there are no viable offspring. Over time, this reduces mosquito populations, and this has been used successfully in Brazil,” says Amesh Adalja of the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security. Such research methods have been studied for some time, and other sterile animals, such as irradiated worms in agriculture, are also used.
Only females transmit EEE
When asked by DW, Oxitec confirmed that no genetically modified mosquitoes were released in Massachusetts. The last release was in Florida in November 2023 – so the genetically modified mosquitoes can hardly be spatially or temporally related to the current EEE outbreak. And since the animals are male and do not bite, they would not be able to transmit EEE themselves.
The virus also existed long before the use of genetically modified mosquitoes. “We have known about the virus for 90 years. Periodic outbreaks occur occasionally when the right climatic conditions are present. This year we had humid and warm summers, which are ideal conditions for mosquito breeding, especially for mosquitoes that transmit the EEE virus,” says Philip M. Armstrong, scientific director of the Department of Entomology at the Center for Vector Biology & Zoonotic Diseases in Connecticut.
Bill Gates is often the target of conspiracy theories
Bill Gates has often been the target of disinformation and conspiracy theories. Social media users suspected that the genetically modified Oxitec mosquitoes were behind the Dengue outbreak At the beginning of the year in Brazil or behind Cases of malaria last year in the USA.
During the Corona crisis, the Microsoft founder was accused of implanting the COVID vaccination secret microchipsAnd in India, fake news was circulating that he was on trial for illegally Polio vaccines tested on children.
In fact, 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 worldwide, such as vaccination programs and vaccine research.
This very large influence of Gates on global health is one of the things that makes many people so suspicious and fuels the many fakes. The billionaire is ideally suited to demonize him and to spin conspiracy myths around him – a deep skepticism towards the elites of society is one of several typical features of such narratives.
