\n<\/p>\n
Dengue fever surged by 400% across Brazil after gene-edited mosquitos were released as part of a project backed by Bill Gates.<\/p>\n
The virus is also spreading across Peru, Argentina, and Laos.<\/p>\n
In the first five weeks of 2024, there have been 364,855 reported infections and 40 confirmed deaths, according to The Guardian<\/a>. More than 200 other cases are under investigation.<\/p>\n Although the World Health Organization (WHO) director-general, Tedros Adhanom, claimed the outbreak is connected to increased rainfall in Brazil, billions of gene-edited mosquitos were scheduled to be released in the country over a 10-year period as part of the World Mosquito Program, which is a partner of the Gates Foundation.<\/p>\n \u201cThe World Mosquito Program, with support from generous partners like the Gates Foundation, are doing just that with our Wolbachia method which is scalable, sustainable, non-GMO and safe for people and the planet,\u201d reads<\/a> a statement from the World Mosquito Program.<\/p>\n Harvard Public Health published<\/a> an article last August describing the efforts taken by Brazilian authorities in \u201creleasing clouds of lab-grown Aedes aegypti mosquitoes infected with Wolbachia bacteria, which prevents dengue virus transmission to humans.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe country will be the first to launch a nationwide program to release Wolbachia-modified mosquitoes, which are expected to protect up to 70 million people from dengue fever over the next 10 years,\u201d the report stated. \u201cAnd it\u2019s building a factory to scale up mosquito production: Beginning 2024, the factory will mass-produce five billion mosquitoes a year.\u201d<\/p>\n American Faith previously reported<\/a> that dengue fever surged in Bangladesh after the country began releasing irradiated mosquitoes into the population, a move also in partnership with the Gates Foundation.<\/p>\n Starting from Jan 2022, Bangladesh and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)\u2014which is\u00a0funded<\/a>\u00a0by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation\u2014commenced a \u201cfour-year technical cooperation program to advance sterile mosquito technology as part of an area-wide integrated pest management program to control Aedes mosquitoes,\u201d according to a local\u00a0news source<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Gates Foundation has also\u00a0committed<\/a>\u00a0$55 million to develop vaccines for dengue.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n