No, Alabama cases of EEE virus aren’t linked to Bill Gates or Oxitec’s modified mosquitoes
A mosquito feeds at the Salt Lake City Mosquito Abatement District on July 26, 2023, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
CLAIM: Recently reported cases of Eastern equine encephalitis, or EEE, virus in Alabama were caused by a genetically modified mosquito project tied to Bill Gates.
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. A biotech company, Oxitec, has been releasing genetically modified mosquitoes, but only in Florida. Moreover, those mosquitoes are male, which do not bite humans and therefore aren’t responsible for disease spread. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has funded Oxitec’s mosquito work abroad, not in the U.S.
THE FACTS: A flurry of claims in recent months have tried to baselessly blame Microsoft co-founder Gates for spreading diseases through projects that his foundation has financed. But the claims are rooted in misunderstanding and distortion.
One popular video shared on Instagram this week suggests modified mosquitoes linked to Gates are somehow responsible for a handful of cases of EEE, a rare but serious disease spread by infected mosquitoes, reported in Alabama.
“So Bill Gates has a GMO mosquito farm then this ‘ALL OF A SUDDEN’ happens?” text on the video reads.
The video shows a local news segment reporting on two EEE cases, including one fatal, in Baldwin County, Alabama. The Alabama Department of Public Health issued an Aug. 21 announcement about the cases.
But while the Gates Foundation has supported Oxitec, which is releasing modified mosquitoes in Florida as part of a disease-control initiative, the company has said its U.S. work is not funded by the Gates Foundation.
Moreover, experts note that Oxitec is releasing male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes and that only female mosquitoes bite humans to feed.
Nora Besansky, a biology professor at the University of Notre Dame who specializes in mosquitoes, confirmed in an email that male mosquitoes cannot be responsible for any disease outbreaks because they do not “bloodfeed.”
“Males drink nectar, not blood,” Besansky said.
Additionally, Oxitec’s work with mosquitoes in the U.S. is limited to the Florida Keys, a spokesperson recently confirmed to The Associated Press. It is the only company authorized by the Environmental Protection Agency to release genetically modified mosquitoes in the country.
The Alabama Department of Public Health is also unaware of any genetically modified mosquitoes being released in Alabama, said Dr. Wes Stubblefield, a district medical officer with the department.
The state has instead homed in on several species of mosquitoes as primary vectors of EEE, including the swamp mosquito Culiseta melanura, Stubblefield told the AP in an email.
“These mosquito species haven’t been genetically modified to date,” he said.
Since the news report used in the Instagram video aired, Alabama has confirmed a third EEE case, also in Baldwin County, Stubblefield said.
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This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.