Showing posts with label outbreak. Show all posts
Showing posts with label outbreak. Show all posts

Monday, February 1, 2016

Big Question: Was Zika outbreak caused by release of genetically modified mosquitoes in Brazil?


Dr. Angela Rocha examines Ludmilla Hadassa Dias de Vasconcelos
Birth defect:  Zika  caused by genetically-modified mosquitoes?

The Zika virus outbreak currently gripping the Americas could have been sparked by the release of genetically modified mosquitoes in 2012, critics say.
The insects were engineered by biotechnology experts to combat the spread of dengue fever and other diseases and released into the general population of Brazil in 2012.
But with the World Health Organisation(WHO) now meeting in Geneva to desperately discuss cures for the Zika virus, speculation has mounted as to the cause of this sudden outbreak.
The Zika virus was first discovered in the 1950s but the recent outbreak has escalated alarmingly, causing birth defects and a range of health problems in South and central America.
The first cases were reported in Brazil last May with up to 1.5 million now thought people affected by the virus which is spread by mosquitoes endemic to Latin America.

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