The Zika Virus Is Harmless - It Does Not Cause Birth Defects - We Told You So
After nearly a year of causing hysteria, mass travel cancellations and unnecessary abortions it finally daunts to "journalists" and "experts" that the Zika virus is harmless. It can cause a very minor flu - two days of a low fever and uncomfortable feeling for a quarter of those infected - that is all. It does not cause, as was claimed by sensationalists in the media and various self-serving "scientists", birth defects like microcephaly.
We told you so.
In February we wrote: The Zika Virus Is Harmless - Who Then Benefits From This Media Panic?.
The piece refereed to a Congressional Research Service report and various sound scientific papers. It concluded:
There is absolutely no sane reason for the scary headlines and the panic they cause.The virus is harmless. It is possible, but seems for now very unlikely, that it affects some unborn children. There is absolutely no reason to be concerned about it.
The artificial media panic continued and huge amounts of money were poured into dangerous insecticides to kill mosquitoes (and important pollinators) that did not do any harm. Indeed, generous use of some of these insecticides likely were the very cause of a blip in microcephaly cases in northeastern Brazil.
In March we wrote: Reading About Zika May Hurt Your Brain.
We listed 35 sensational "news" headlines about potential catastrophes related to a Zika epidemic. The common factor of those panic creating media wave - all those headlines included the miraculous little word may. The pieces were pure speculations with some quoting this or that "expert" who was hunting for research funds or lobbying for some pharmaceutical or pesticide conglomerate.
In June we added: Zika Virus Does Not Cause Birth Defects - Fighting It Probably Does.
New serious research found what some people in Brazil had suspected from the very start of the small and strictly locally limited jump in microencephaly cases in Brazil:
[D]octors in the Zika affected areas in Brazil pointed out that the real cause of somewhat increased microcephaly in the region was probably the insecticide pyriproxyfen, used to kill mosquito larvae in drinking water:The Brazilian doctors noted that the areas of northeast Brazil that had witnessed the greatest number of microcephaly cases match with areas where pyriproxyfen is added to drinking water in an effort to combat Zika-carrying mosquitoes. Pyriproxyfen is reported to cause malformations in mosquito larvae, and has been added to drinking water in the region for the past 18 months.Pyriproxyfen is produced by a Sumitomo Chemical - an important Japanese poison giant. It was therefore unsurprising that the New York Times and others called the Brazilian doctors' report a "conspiracy theory" and trotted out some "experts" to debunk it.
...
But [s]cientist at the New England Complex Systems Institute also researched the pyriproxyfen thesis. They found:Pyriproxifen is an analog of juvenile hormone, which corresponds in mammals to regulatory molecules including retinoic acid, a vitamin A metabolite, with which it has cross-reactivity and whose application during development causes microcephaly.
...
[T]ests of pyriproxyfen by the manufacturer, Sumitomo, widely quoted as giving no evidence for developmental toxicity, actually found some evidence for such an effect, including low brain mass and arhinencephaly—incomplete formation of the anterior cerebral hemispheres—in rat pups. Finally, the pyriproxyfen use in Brazil is unprecedented—it has never before been applied to a water supply on such a scale.
...
Given this combination of information we strongly recommend that the use of pyriproxyfen in Brazil be suspended pending further investigation.
Today the Washington Post finally admits that the Zika virus does not cause birth defects:
[T]o the great bewilderment of scientists, the epidemic has not produced the wave of fetal deformities so widely feared when the images of misshapen infants first emerged from Brazil.Instead, Zika has left a puzzling and distinctly uneven pattern of damage across the Americas. According to the latest U.N. figures, of the 2,175 babies born in the past year with undersize heads or other congenital neurological damage linked to Zika, more than 75 percent have been clustered in a single region: northeastern Brazil.
The wide areas where the flue virus occurred outside of the small area in Brazil saw no increase in birth defect numbers. The number of (naturally occurring) microcephality cases stayed constant despite a very large increase in (harmless) Zika virus infections. The numbers in Brazil also turned out to be partially inflated because of a lack of standard diagnosis criteria and unreliable statistics. A factor we had pointed to in our very first piece.
The WaPo piece today muses about several "possible" causes for the local increase in cases in northeastern Brazil that indeed happened. It quotes some of the very "experts", like from the pharmaceutical industry influenced CDC, that were wrong on the issue since the very first panic headline. It strenuously avoids to even mention the most likely cause - the excessive local use of an insecticide that is supposed to cause birth defects - in developing mosquitoes. Thus the reporting is still void of journalistic ethics and irresponsible in its conclusions.
It did not take much effort to get this right. An hour or two of skimming through publicly available sources of good standing, some basic higher education and sound reasoning was enough. But instead of doing such basic inquiries "journalists" and media "served" panic and speculations by biased "experts". Keep this story in mind for the next sensationalist onslaught of panic headline. There surely will be some "interests" behind those; just don't expect unbiased facts and basic logic reasoning.
Posted by b on October 27, 2016 at 10:49 UTC | Permalink
Well done again b.
(somewhat OT but not totally as it involves the pharmaceuticals and their misinformation to sustain their exorbitant profits and ‘important pollinators’ )
If you ever have the time and inkling, a diagnostic of colony collapse disorder (CCD) among the honeybees and all the Bayer inspired misinformation surrounding it would be most welcome. The case is constantly made that there are a number of causes of which Bayer’s neonicotinoids are but ‘possibly’ a contributing factor. Any scientific studies that show a link are immediately denigrated and the authors discredited by the pharm’s that stand to lose huge incomes.
Posted by: juannie | Oct 27 2016 11:37 utc | 2
You, b, are now OFFICIALLY one of the few Investigative Journalists on Planet Earth.
Calling all MSM stenographers!
Eat your hearts out, and die!
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Oct 27 2016 12:14 utc | 3
Was the political aim to punish Brazil (because of BRICS)?
With the help of MSM of course.
And with the Olympic Games in Rio as special target.
Posted by: From The Hague | Oct 27 2016 12:15 utc | 4
Hey folks the word "may" has been politicized and abused by the MSM.....time to take it back....
Posted by: notlurking | Oct 27 2016 12:41 utc | 5
From the Hague @ 4
That well could have been the original scheme, but then it turned out to be too great of an idea just to stop there, so they went ahead and quarantined parts of Florida, shut down a neighborhood and made everyone submit to testing for the virus. That was just for practice.
That having been pulled off successfully, and the Center for Disease Control having proved that Americans have no right to interfere with government officials who come to their door and demand they be tested for disease, they then authorized a Swiss company to start selling (emergency authorization) an unproven vaccine in the U.S. -- $$$$$.
The vaccine could well be more dangerous than the virus, but given the 24-hour news cycle, who's going to even remember?
By now the dough's been raked in and the pay-offs have been made. New game. Shuffle the cards.
Posted by: Ken Nari | Oct 27 2016 12:50 utc | 6
The article does not make that conclusion, the article says "We don’t believe that Zika is the only cause,” and "The latest studies have found more evidence than ever that the virus can inflict severe damage on the developing infant brain, some of which may not be evident until later in childhood." "so perhaps mothers in the area had relatively fewer antibodies to cope with Zika" "We suspect the villain has an accomplice, but we don’t know who it is" "Anecdotal evidence suggests more women have been quietly terminating pregnancies over worries that their babies might be deformed. This may also help explain the relatively low number of babies born with Zika-related birth defects outside northeast Brazil."
Posted by: Tom Murphy | Oct 27 2016 13:04 utc | 7
ofc washington post can't admit it lied and will wait another 5 years before mentionning on page 30+ in smallest caracters Zika had nothing to do with it, what else where you expecting Tom ?
Posted by: ratatat | Oct 27 2016 13:12 utc | 8
Agnotology is a powerful Corporate Tool employed on the under-educated US masses.
We can't worry about the Bees and other living things when we need Big Pharma Chemical companies to save us from the ravenous Mosquitoes.
Posted by: Enrico Malatesta | Oct 27 2016 13:44 utc | 9
FEAR! FIRE! FOES!
The DuhmeriKKKan public is so desensitized to reality that they swallow bullshit all the time.
The Zika scare only illustrated one thing ... that fools are born every minute. DuhmeriKKKans are certainly fools ... and skepticism is considered unpatriotic if not deserving of a death sentence.
Posted by: rg the lg | Oct 27 2016 14:20 utc | 10
Ken was a friend for over 10 years through +/- 2006. His credentials go far beyond what's listed at bottom of that article... he's been major contributor to Brazilian Public Health strategies for a long time, and is known and recognized internationally for his contributions to fighting Aids Medically & logistically beginning well before Aids/HIV became treatable. Ken is of highest integrity, up there with finest people I've ever known.
@7
Lots of things can "inflict severe damage on the developing infant brain," including a large mallet. Whether Zika actually does or not is the big question. A significant study showed that there was zero increase in microcephaly in Colombia after Zika's arrival. I've been waiting to see the evidence from Puerto Rico and Central America. The evidence appears to be coming in, and it appears to be the same as the Colombia evidence. Zika may (or may not) be one of the (probably) myriad causes of microcephaly, but the evidence seems to be that any increase in microcephaly caused by Zika is not statistically detectable. And the bit about "may not be evident until later in childhood" just looks like ass covering.
Posted by: shargash | Oct 27 2016 14:39 utc | 12
WaPo is still lying with the numbers too. According to the statistics given by B the microcephaly caseload ratio - Brazil region versus rest of South America - is 96 % to 4 % and not 75 % to 25 % as stated in the WaPo piece.
Posted by: Pnyx | Oct 27 2016 14:45 utc | 13
@Pnyx - thanks for pointing that out - started to calculate that, got distracted and published without that. Yes, the statistics given in the graph don't match the (clueless) numbers in the piece.
@Tom Murphy - may, can, could, probably, we don't know, we will see later - all just obfuscations by "experts" who were swearing Zika is the only culprit just month ago. Trash for dummies like you.
There is zero evidence that Zika is causing birth defects - zer0. Indeed the statistics from other countries say it doesn't at all. And the phenomenon in Brazil is clearly localized with a real culprit having been identified.
The fake virus was timed to disrupt attendance at the Olympics, which it did. Brazil is one of the BRICS....the "other side"
This is how declining empire operates. Will folks get prosecuted for the scam? Doubtfully, but years from now there will be folks that still believe that Zika is causing birth defects cause they saw it on TV once.
Posted by: psychohistorian | Oct 27 2016 15:31 utc | 15
@14 You wrote " the Washington Post finally admits that the Zika virus does not cause birth defects" all I am doing is pointing out that that not true and I quoted from the article to show that the article doesn't say that.
Posted by: Tom Murphy | Oct 27 2016 15:45 utc | 16
Thanks, Mr. B. for some excellent journalism and reporting. The CDC got the phony AIDS/HIV connection all wrong some thirty (30) years ago. A UC professor wrote a book entitled. Inventing the AIDS virus, but his did not stop the CDC from wasting billions of dollars on useless research...
Posted by: james k. sayre | Oct 27 2016 15:49 utc | 17
From the little I know, pyriproxiphen is also doubtful candidate for the cause, because it is widely used outside Brazil, and the phenomenon of a large increase in microcephaly cases seems specific to Brazil. Some viruses mutate quickly, and the problem of finding a suspect mutation has needle-in-the-haystack issue, plus, how to validate it? Mice and rats develop their brains in a very different time frame, so they may be bad animal models, and in general, animals are often very poor models for infectious diseases.
In any case, health care scares are universally the favorites in the media, and scares in general. Gardening or cooking tips are good, and so is bridge columns (do people still play bridge?), but increasing the market share requires some zazz. I remember visiting my "old country" and seeing the following splashed on the front page of a popular weekly magazine: "Ticks of death". A collage made of a number of tick-born infections, but the truth is that are very rarely fatal. I got infected by a tick once, and it forced me to visit a doctor in a foreign country and to take antibiotics for two weeks, Clearly, I live to tell the tale. Other that that, I once seen a deer mouse in my garage, it is very different from more usual field mice and known in my area to carry ticks spreading Lyme disease. Actually, it was more frequent to see a deer, but never in the garage.
Zika clearly was a very good scare. Creepy clowns just did not caught as an issue. The Russians face rather jaded readers. Domestic terrorists are excellent, but the "supply" is spotty and irregular.
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Oct 27 2016 15:54 utc | 18
Yeah it was beyond obvious from day one. The whole thing is very illustrative(if not superfluously so) of the structure; the revolving door between the CDC and the pharma corporations who fund the media, and the hold that those lobbyists have over the media. Time and Forbes for instance(and every news blog on down for that matter) have these civilian "science" writers whose job it is to keep the narrative in lockstep with the CDC/NIH/WHO plan. They are lawyers and freelance hobby-bloggers for the most part, either with zero STEM education or something completely irrelevant to their assigned topic, so they can remain ambivalent in their stance, I'm assuming, as "non-experts". The whole thing is ghastly if you follow it. The pro-GMO writers seem to be cut from the same cloth and are actually in a few cases, the same people.
But alas, not only have the CDC et al gotten their Zika funding, those dam GMO mosquitos with HERPES and E COLI written into their DNA were released the other day in South America as a "countermeasure", as was also predicted from day one as a apossible side-effect/profit motive of the whole bloody sham.
And then there's gassing of Floridians with basically Agent Orange, which I'm assuming is still going on since the Governor is profiting from it.
We'll be lucky to survive all of the remedies this bunch has in store for us.
Posted by: sejomoje | Oct 27 2016 15:55 utc | 19
Piotr, the difference is that the region w the highest reporting of microcephaly were adding larvacides to their DRINKING water. It wasn't just being applied in the usual sense, or only in agricultural settings(in these rural parts one could say ALL settings where humans are present are agricultural).
Posted by: sejomoje | Oct 27 2016 16:03 utc | 20
b said..."Indeed, generous use of some of these insecticides likely were the very cause of a blip in microencephaly cases in northeastern Brazil."
Thanks b, another brick, in the wall of truth.
Posted by: ben | Oct 27 2016 16:05 utc | 21
@psychohistorian #15
Yes, exactly.
Something "b" (#14) apparantly doesn't understand...
Posted by: From The Hague | Oct 27 2016 16:45 utc | 22
@ From the Hague,
Sorry I missed your initial comment that I repeated and should have just supported. Follow the money....who benefits....always good first questions
Posted by: psychohistorian | Oct 27 2016 17:04 utc | 23
Oldie but goodie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1BhC3qf8sY
Posted by: ALberto | Oct 27 2016 17:17 utc | 24
How long will it take before the book 1984 becomes a full reflection of current western society? War is Peace in Syria, Iraq, Libya, ...; Slavery by giving in all remaining forms of privacy is Freedom; Ignorance in accepting the daily spoon fed lies like zika, Ghouta, Benghazi, incubator babies, weapons of mass destruction, ... is Bliss.
Posted by: ruth | Oct 27 2016 19:02 utc | 26
Now onto finding the real reason they were trying to cover up by putting the blame for those birth defects on zika virus.
Posted by: Conglomera | Oct 27 2016 19:03 utc | 27
NATO chief downplays concerns over formation of joint European army
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has downplayed suggestions that EU military buildup might undermine the Western alliance as the bid to establish an independent European army appears to gain momentum.
"I strongly believe it is absolutely possible to strengthen European defense without duplicating efforts by NATO," Stoltenberg said on Thursday, adding,
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/10/27/490946/EU-NATO-Stoltenberg-Mogherini-Brussels
Who is thinking & acting way ahead of this herd mentality, who are so maligned in their obtuseness...why, the Poles! They already sent an entire army of poles to Britain, but as refugees.
Posted by: shlub | Oct 27 2016 19:46 utc | 28
@ 14 You wrote "There is zero evidence that Zika is causing birth defects - zer0."
But how does your claim square with this?: Scientists offer first direct proof that Zika virus in Brazil causes birth defects
"They have deliberately infected developing mice pups and tiny clusters of lab-grown brain cells so they could observe and measure the damage that ensued.
The results of these experiments nail down the causal link between Zika and the rash of birth defects seen over the past year in Brazil. And they begin to show how a virus thought to be little more than a pest crosses the placental barrier and makes a beeline for a fetus' brain. ... The new studies, published Wednesday in the journals Nature, Cell and Cell Stem Cell, suggest that when the Zika virus takes hold in the first trimester, it makes its way quickly to the uterus and to cells that line and normally help protect the placenta."
Posted by: Tom Murphy | Oct 27 2016 20:02 utc | 29
Rumor of link to microcephaly outbreak in Brazil
For a broader coverage related to this topic, see Zika virus outbreak (2015–present).
Starting in 2014, pyriproxifen was put into Brazilian water supplies to fight the proliferation of mosquito larvae.[14] This is in line with the World Health Organization (WHO)'s Pesticide Evaluation Scheme (WHOPES) for larvicides.[15] In January 2016, the Brazilian Association for Collective Health (Abrasco; Portuguese: Associação Brasileira de Saúde Coletiva) criticized the introduction of pyriproxyfen in Brazil. Abrasco demanded the "immediate suspension of [use of] pyriproxyfen and all growth inhibitors ... in drinking water." The organization is opposed to the use of growth inhibitors in the context of an ongoing outbreak of fetal malformation.[16]
On February 3, the rumor that pyriproxyfen, not the Zika virus, is the cause of the 2015-2016 microcephaly outbreak in Brazil was raised in a report of the Argentinean organization Physicians in the Crop-Sprayed Villages (PCST).[17] It attracted wide media coverage.[18][19] The statement from Abrasco was cited in the PCST report; subsequently, Abrasco clarified that position as an misinterpretation of their statement, saying "at no time did we state that pesticides, insecticides, or other chemicals are responsible for the increasing number of microcephaly cases in Brazil". They also condemned the behavior of the websites that spread the misinformation, adding that such "untruths...violates the anguish and suffering of the people in vulnerable positions".[20] In addition, the coordinator for the PCST statement, Medardo Ávila Vazquez, acknowledged in an interview that "the group hasn’t done any lab studies or epidemiological research to support its assertions, but it argues that using larvicides may cause human deformities."[21]
On February 13, the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul suspended pyriproxyfen's use, citing both Abrasco and PCST positions.[22][23] The Health Minister of Brazil, Marcelo Castro, criticized this step, noting that the claim is "a rumor lacking logic and sense. It has no basis." They also noted that the insecticide is approved by the National Sanitary Monitoring Agency and "all regulatory agencies in the whole world". The manufacturer of the insecticide, Sumitomo Chemical, stated "there is no scientific basis for such a claim" and also referred to the approval of pyriproxyfen by the World Health Organization since 2004 and the United States Environmental Protection Agency since 2001.[24][25]
George Dimech, the director of Disease Control and Diseases of the Health Department of Pernambuco in Brazil, gave an interview to the BBC where he pointed out that the city of Recife has the current highest reported amount of cases of microcephaly, yet pyriproxyfen is not used in the region, but another insecticide altogether. He added that "this lack of spatial correlation weakens the idea that the larvicide is the cause of the problem." In addition, the BBC interviewed researchers in Pernambuco, where no evidence has been found of the cases being linked to any environmental cause like an insecticide. Neurologist Vanessa van der Linden stated in an interview, "Clinically, the changes we see in the scans of babies suggest that the injuries were caused by congenital infection and not by larvicide, drug or vaccine."[20]
Noted skeptic David Gorski called the claim a conspiracy theory and pointed out that antivaccine proponents had also claimed that the Tdap vaccine was the cause of the microcephaly outbreak, due to its introduction in 2014, along with adding, "One can’t help but wonder what else the Brazilian Ministry of Health did in 2014 that cranks can blame microcephaly on." Gorski also pointed out the extensive physiochemical understanding of pyriproxyfen coded in the WHO Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality, which concluded in a past evaluation that the insecticide is not genotoxic, and that the doctor organization making the claim has been advocating against all pesticides since 2010, complicating their reliability.[26][27][28]
A professor from the University of Adelaide in Australia, stated that "The effect of pyriproxyfen on reproduction and fetal abnormalities is well studied in animals. In a variety of animal species even enormous quantities of pyriproxyfen do not cause the defects seen during the recent Zika outbreak."[29] A colleague also from the University of Adelaide stated that "While the evidence that Zika virus is responsible for the rise in microcephaly in Brazil is not conclusive, the role of pyriproxyfen is simply not plausible."[29] Another professor in Australia concluded that "insect development is quite different to human development and involves different hormones, developmental pathways and sets of genes, so it cannot be assumed that chemicals affecting insect development also influence mammalian development."[29]
Posted by: etienne marais | Oct 27 2016 20:41 utc | 30
@ Conglomera | Oct 27, 2016 3:03:49 PM | 27
Suggest a line of inquiry in affected areas as to how many agricultural areas were heavily treated in normal application, and the addition to the water supply muddies the chain of causality.
Zika will probably go down with ebola and west nile as failed pandemics. Lyme disease in the US and analogues in other tick-infested countries are still a curiosity. Maybe scientists looking for a big spend, maybe just the collective looking for a reason to panic as their lives are so boring otherwise.
So can anyone tell me really why millions of flue shots are delivered annually across the US and "flue season" is still a thing? Why don't we have "polio season" or "measles season"? Or "erectile dysfunction" season, for that matter? Why slender Europeans suddenly gain kilos of fat when they move to the Americas? Maybe it's not disease, but rather food that deserves the panic factor.
Posted by: stumpy | Oct 27 2016 20:46 utc | 31
So, the Zika virus has been known and studied in Asia/Africa for about five decades, and over that time caused no serious ill effects. Over fifty years-no problem
Suddenly, it appears in Brazil to be having disastrous effects.
Just when Brazil needed to be punished for turning its butt to point it directly at the West, along with towards the Western GOD scientists.
The main virus harming Brazil is Western (USA) hegemon ambition, which has lately destroyed Brazil's legitimate governing process.
Trust the scientists----to lie when needed.
We are not all turnip wagon riders anymore.
Posted by: joey | Oct 27 2016 20:52 utc | 32
sincere apologies for the long post; malfunction caused caopy of entire article, and it got posted before i could correct the content - really sorry
Posted by: etienne marais | Oct 27 2016 20:59 utc | 33
and of course some dumb hicks down south (florida i think) carpet bombed the place with pesticides to kill non-existent mosquitoes and ended up wiping out most of their honey bees. excellent leadership.
i always had a feeling this was hype and have to say what annoys me most is months of being subjected to giant, close-up and repulsive pictures of the bugs every time i turn on the telly. i'll be enjoying dinner, watching some mindless show to clear my mind and BOOM a mosquito the size of a small dog when viewed on my screen. all for nothing.
it was hilarious seeing all the dumb jocks going to the rio olympics and paqtting themselves on the back for their "bravery". good times.
Posted by: the pair | Oct 27 2016 21:02 utc | 34
good work b. thank you and the informative posters for shining a light in the darkness.
Posted by: james | Oct 27 2016 21:07 utc | 35
A little anecdote about proving biological conjectures through experiments. Well into 19th century it was believed that organisms may appear kind of spontaneously, e.g. you make a little pile of grain with no mice present, close the room so no mouse can enter, and after few weeks, you have mice in the pile.
In 19th century most cases of spontaneous life were explain as not so spontaneous. But bacteria kept appearing in quite controlled conditions. Pasteur proved that boiled bullion will show no presence of bacteria if stored in a proper way, and his opponent proved that boiled hay infusion develops bacteria, but since previously bullion was used in the "proofs" of spontaneity of life, Pasteur won the day, and hay-using opponents lost, being suspect of incorrect experiments.
In 20th century nobody believed in spontaneous life anymore, but someone checked that hay experiment was correct. You can boil the infusion and bacteria will multiply. This is because some bacteria present in hay have spores that are very durable and survive boiling, to kill them, you need to boil them under pressure five times larger than normal. Some bacteria with durable sporeso are rather nasty, causing tuberculosis and gas gangrene (the latter is so hard to kill that if it happens in a hospital ward, all sheets etc. are burned).
Getting "to the bottom" of the issue is not always possible in the span of few years. Life is very complicated.
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Oct 27 2016 22:18 utc | 36
@14 And in addition to the study mentioned in the LATIMES article I linked to @29 comment, here is another study (Zika virus impairs growth in human neurospheres and brain organoids) which says:
Zika virus tested in human brain organoids
The pernicious and resilient Aedes mosquito is rapidly spreading Zika virus (ZIKV) through the Americas. ZIKV infection mostly causes mild disease, but in some patients, nervous system involvement is indicated. A particular worry is an observed correlation between infection of mothers in the first trimester of pregnancy and microcephaly in newborns. Garcez et al. tested the effects of ZIKV compared with dengue virus infection on human neural stem cells grown as organoids. ZIKV targeted the human brain cells, reduced their size and viability in vitro, and caused programmed cell death responses."
Science, this issue p. 816
The Abstract says "Since the emergence of Zika virus (ZIKV), reports of microcephaly have increased considerably in Brazil; however, causality between the viral epidemic and malformations in fetal brains needs further confirmation. We examined the effects of ZIKV infection in human neural stem cells growing as neurospheres and brain organoids. Using immunocytochemistry and electron microscopy, we showed that ZIKV targets human brain cells, reducing their viability and growth as neurospheres and brain organoids. These results suggest that ZIKV abrogates neurogenesis during human brain development."
Posted by: Tom Murphy | Oct 27 2016 23:24 utc | 37
@Tom Murphy
I think you are misunderstanding the science. It is one thing to say that Zika is capable of causing birth defects in a laboratory. It is quite another thing to say that the rash of microcephaly is caused by Zika. Lots of things cause birth defects.
What we know is that when Zika spread to Colombia, there was NO INCREASE above the background rate of microcephaly in Colombia. Based on the WaPo article, similar evidence is coming in from other areas.
If Zika was responsible for the increase in microcephaly in Brazil, then it should increase microcephaly everywhere it goes. It does not. Therefore, the microcephaly in Brazil was (most likely) not caused by Zika, and there is no reason to overreact to the spread of Zika, even if Zika can, under certain circumstance, cause some as-yet-unspecified birth defects.
Posted by: shargash | Oct 28 2016 0:11 utc | 38
Rambo down!
The horror.
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950806001104
Thu Oct 27, 2016 7:42
ISIL's 'Rambo' Killed in Battles South of Mosul
TEHRAN (FNA)- A notorious ISIL commander who was also among the inner ring of ISIL Leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi's most trusted men, was killed during clashes with Iraqi security forces South of Mosul.
Abu Iman al-Mouseli, who was also called 'Rambo' by ISIL militants for his bulky build, was killed in an attack by Iraqi security forces in the vicinity of Shoura region, South of Mosul.
Posted by: shlub | Oct 28 2016 0:20 utc | 39
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950806000910
Thu Oct 27, 2016 5:23
Turkey Joins Russia-Damascus-Baghdad-Tehran Operations Room in Syria
TEHRAN (FNA)- Russian media reported that Moscow has already started cooperation with Turkey on exchanging intelligence data needed for carrying out Operation Euphrates Shield in Syria.
According to Izvestia newspaper, the agreement was reached during the October 10 talks between Russian and Turkish Presidents Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Experts believe that cooperation with Ankara on Syria may result in more benefits for Russia than what Moscow can gain through cooperation with the US.
Posted by: shlub | Oct 28 2016 0:23 utc | 40
Thu Oct 27, 2016 9:25
Another Grim Milestone: US Laying the Groundwork for Attack on Raqqa
TEHRAN (FNA)- The United States and its coalition have begun laying the groundwork for attack on ISIL’s stronghold of Raqqa in Syria.
To complicate matters, Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, the leader of the US military forces in Iraq and Syria, says Kurdish YPG forces will participate in this illegal invasion, despite objections from Damascus that the move will only lead to more civilian casualties and refugees. Even Amnesty International agrees.
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950806001251
Posted by: shlub | Oct 28 2016 0:26 utc | 41
@Tom Murphy 37
Thank you for the reference to the science article. I downloaded it to add to my small but growing collection of these. Since this isn't my field, they're like Greek to me except for the Abstract and sometimes the Summary.
None of this makes sense. The Zika virus supposedly dates from 1947, and I hadn't heard of any calamities involving it during the intervening years. So I suspect the pyriproxyfen must be involved in some substantial way. The WHO dismisses it as a possibility, but in my opinion that verges on dishonesty.
"This product has been used since the late-1990s without being linked to microcephaly."
That's true, but it's quite misleading - perhaps deliberately. Yes, it's been around for a while, but previously it was used to spray on cotton plants and in flea control for pets. Dumping it into drinking water is very different from those uses. Even if the pyriproxyfen turns out to be the culprit, I remain concerned. The Zika virus may well evolve so as not to need such a 'trigger'. And with the onset of the new trade treaties which will serve to castrate regulators, indiscriminate use of new chemicals might also activate Zika or even worse viruses. Not a happy prospect, no matter how this turns out.
Posted by: Zachary Smith | Oct 28 2016 0:40 utc | 42
etienne, of course the CDC/WHO aligned politicians and doctors are going to quash the "conspiracy theories". Their bonuses depend upon it! And in the article you pasted are also the opinions of a major chemical company! As well as "opinion" from professional pharma shill David Gorski. (I'd urge MoA to read up on this guy. He's an industry operative, does the GMOs r Good schtick too).
How completely ludicrous also is the claim by Vanessa Van der Linden (who btw is the first doc to promote this supposed link to "the west" - coincidence I'm sure)
"Clinically, the changes we see in the scans of babies suggest that the injuries were caused by congenital infection and not by larvicide, drug or vaccine."
Pure conjecture. It could even be a synergistic effect of some sort. "Scans of babies". How about doing blood work on their families, etc? Again, these sorts of proclamations are merely "sciencey sounding"; clearly contrived for the layman, who by this point has smelled something rotten in the state of Denmark.
Posted by: sejomoje | Oct 28 2016 1:18 utc | 43
Zachary Smith @ 42
Problem with the pyriproxyfen theory: falls apart under same theory B/WP (etc.) is pushing decoupling Zika as (at least one of, or pa.rtial) cause microcephaly: eg. Zika outbreaks in Columbia (etc.) were not accompanied (as far as we know) by incidents of microcephaly.
E.g. pyriproxyfen has been used in many other location in Brazil (as link I posted explained), similarly with no increased incidents.
I find Tom Murphy's first link pretty interesting. Personally, I'm going to sit this one out and let the researchers do their work.
jdmckay @ 44
We're on the same page with waiting. It'll potentially be nerve-wracking because of the inevitable research dead ends as well as the Big Corporation efforts to muddy the water and spread confusion. If the neoliberals have a stake in the outcome, they'll use their control of governments to do the same.
Posted by: Zachary Smith | Oct 28 2016 1:45 utc | 45
I posted this comment on Jun 26, 2016 11:17:36 PM | 33 which included: "And this from NPR: "In the end, though, the most compelling point against pyriproxyfen's role in Brazil's recent health issues is this. Health officials in the state of Pernambuco say that in the three cities with the most microcephaly cases, they don't use the chemical. Rae Ellen Bichell, NPR News." http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=467138913
I started that comment with this "I am not sure what the cause is. This is from the CDC: "Recent media reports have suggested that a pesticide called pyriproxyfen might be linked with microcephaly. Pyriproxyfen has been approved for the control of disease-carrying mosquitoes by the World Health Organization. Pyriproxyfen is a registered pesticide in Brazil and other countries, it has been used for decades, and it has not been linked with microcephaly. In addition, exposure to pyriproxyfen would not explain recent study results showing the presence of Zika virus in the brains of babies born with microcephaly. ... Zika and Other Birth Outcomes
In addition to microcephaly, other problems have been detected among fetuses and infants infected with Zika virus before birth, such as eye defects, hearing loss, and impaired growth. Although Zika virus is a cause of microcephaly and other severe fetal brain defects and has been linked with these other problems in infants, there is more to learn. Researchers are collecting data to better understand the extent Zika virus’ impact on mothers and their children." http://www.cdc.gov/zika/pregnancy/question-answers.html
BBC reports the same thing "A third factor
But in the worst-affected state, Pernambuco, the facts do not support the larvicide theory.
Some areas where pyriproxyfen is used do not have any cases of microcephaly while the city of Recife, which has most cases, does not use it, officials at the state's centre for disease control said.
And doctors say the alterations seen in the babies' CT scans suggest that the lesions were caused by a congenital infection, and not by pesticides, drugs or vaccines.
But researchers are looking for a "third factor" involved in causing microcephaly in addition to the Zika virus."
@44 You might be interested in what Andrea posted in a Jul 16, 2016 2:11:38 AM comment which said: "Zika Virus Does Cause Birth Defects, from sciencedaily (June, 28): https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/06/160628093035.htm
Five new confirmed microcephaly cases in Colombia may be harbingers of epidemic
Just when it seemed that missing cases of microcephaly in Colombia were straining the credibility of the Zika virus' connection to the birth defects, the latest report from Colombia includes five new cases of microcephaly with Zika infections."
@43 I wouldn't dismiss what they are saying as "Pure conjecture" because "Brazil’s Health Ministry issued a statement that there is no evidence linking larvicide to microcephaly. “Unlike the relationship between the Zika virus and microcephaly, which has had its confirmation attested in tests that indicated the presence of the virus in samples of blood, tissue and amniotic fluid, the association between the use of Pyriproxyfen and microcephaly has no scientific basis,” the ministry said. Brazil State Bans Pesticide After Zika Claim
So as I said months ago, I am not sure what the cause is. I wouldn't be so quick to or sure about reaching a conclusion which dismisses a possible cause of the microcephaly cases.
Posted by: Tom Murphy | Oct 28 2016 4:22 utc | 46
I posted this comment on Jun 26, 2016 11:17:36 PM 33 which included: "And this from NPR: "In the end, though, the most compelling point against pyriproxyfen's role in Brazil's recent health issues is this. Health officials in the state of Pernambuco say that in the three cities with the most microcephaly cases, they don't use the chemical. Rae Ellen Bichell, NPR News." NPR NEWS
I started that comment with this "I am not sure what the cause is. This is from the CDC: "Recent media reports have suggested that a pesticide called pyriproxyfen might be linked with microcephaly. Pyriproxyfen has been approved for the control of disease-carrying mosquitoes by the World Health Organization. Pyriproxyfen is a registered pesticide in Brazil and other countries, it has been used for decades, and it has not been linked with microcephaly. In addition, exposure to pyriproxyfen would not explain recent study results showing the presence of Zika virus in the brains of babies born with microcephaly. ... Zika and Other Birth Outcomes
In addition to microcephaly, other problems have been detected among fetuses and infants infected with Zika virus before birth, such as eye defects, hearing loss, and impaired growth. Although Zika virus is a cause of microcephaly and other severe fetal brain defects and has been linked with these other problems in infants, there is more to learn. Researchers are collecting data to better understand the extent Zika virus’ impact on mothers and their children." CDC
BBC reports the same thing "A third factor
But in the worst-affected state, Pernambuco, the facts do not support the larvicide theory.
Some areas where pyriproxyfen is used do not have any cases of microcephaly while the city of Recife, which has most cases, does not use it, officials at the state's centre for disease control said.
And doctors say the alterations seen in the babies' CT scans suggest that the lesions were caused by a congenital infection, and not by pesticides, drugs or vaccines.
But researchers are looking for a "third factor" involved in causing microcephaly in addition to the Zika virus."
@44 You might be interested in what Andrea posted in a Jul 16, 2016 2:11:38 AM comment which said: "Zika Virus Does Cause Birth Defects, from sciencedaily (June, 28)
Five new confirmed microcephaly cases in Colombia may be harbingers of epidemic
Just when it seemed that missing cases of microcephaly in Colombia were straining the credibility of the Zika virus' connection to the birth defects, the latest report from Colombia includes five new cases of microcephaly with Zika infections."
@43 I wouldn't dismiss what they are saying as "Pure conjecture" because "Brazil’s Health Ministry issued a statement that there is no evidence linking larvicide to microcephaly. “Unlike the relationship between the Zika virus and microcephaly, which has had its confirmation attested in tests that indicated the presence of the virus in samples of blood, tissue and amniotic fluid, the association between the use of Pyriproxyfen and microcephaly has no scientific basis,” the ministry said. Brazil State Bans Pesticide After Zika Claim
So as I said months ago, I am not sure what the cause is. I wouldn't be so quick to or sure about reaching a conclusion which dismisses a possible cause of the microcephaly cases.
Posted by: Tom Murphy | Oct 28 2016 4:40 utc | 47
Tom Murphy @ 46
Thanks for detailed, referenced post.
You might be interested in what Andrea posted in a Jul 16, 2016 2:11:38 AM comment which said: "Zika Virus Does Cause Birth Defects, from sciencedaily (June, 28)Five new confirmed microcephaly cases in Colombia may be harbingers of epidemic
I hadn't heard about that. Kind of shoots some holes in theories "going around".
Thanks again, really appreciate your posts. These are good conversations.
@jdmckay 47
The 5 cases in Colombia are statistically meaningless. To wit: Colombia has a population of 47 million, with a birth rate of 16,3 per 1000 per year. The lowest estimate for pre Zika microcephaly in Brazil is 0,04%, which would amount to about 300 cases per year. Use Poissonian statistics, and the standard deviation is about 17 cases---the five cases are less than sigma over 3, which is tiny.
Posted by: johan meyer | Oct 28 2016 6:12 utc | 49
I read the science daily report, and it is even sillier. The report finds 11 microcephaly cases in 12000 Zika positive pregnant women. With such tiny numbers they make huge extrapolations. Their extrapolation of 200 cases in a few months (comparable to 400 cases for the year) is based on five cases of cooccurence of Zika and microcephaly. Recall that the 0,04% is the minimum estimate; the maximum estimate is ~2%, corresponding to 15000 cases for Colombia. Again we are talking about tiny measured frequencies---Poissonian std dev for 5 cases mean is 2,2 cases or one eighth of a std dev under the minimal case (1/55 for maximal case).
Posted by: johan meyer | Oct 28 2016 6:32 utc | 51
I don't think b posted a link to REPORT from Physicians in the crop-Sprayed Villages regarding Dengue-Zika, microcephaly, and mass-spraying with chemical poisons, but he referred to the data presented within.
Big Science can be counted on to line up behind Big Business/Big Government. Science and scientists are just as tainted as journalists at this point in time, at least the ones the journalists seek out for comment. See David L Lewis, Science for sale : how the US government uses powerful corporations and leading universities to support government policies, silence top scientists, jeopardize our health, and protect corporate profits. Or any of the voluminous data on glyphosate.
I think part of this alarm was to sully Brazil in the lead-up to the Olympics, but part of it was surely to protect Big Chemistry from the results of its pushing its products, regardless the consequences of 'innovative' usage.
Posted by: jfl | Oct 28 2016 6:48 utc | 52
Also, jdmckay, could you provide links to info re 44? Your earlier link appears to be broken. In particular, in what other locales was the pesticide added directly to the drinking water?
Posted by: johan meyer | Oct 28 2016 6:54 utc | 53
@46, TM, 'I posted this comment on Jun 26, 2016 11:17:36 PM 33 which included: "And this from NPR: "In the end, though, the most compelling point against pyriproxyfen's role in Brazil's recent health issues is this. Health officials in the state of Pernambuco say that in the three cities with the most microcephaly cases, they don't use the chemical. Rae Ellen Bichell, NPR News." NPR NEWS'
Who ya gonna believe? Doctors with their eyes open on site, or the lyin' TNC media, in the pocket of Sumimoto/Monsanto and the US political disinformation service? I go with the local doctors, myself.
Pyriproxyfen is applied directly by the Brazilian Ministry of Health on drinking-water reservoirs used by the people of Pernambuco, where the proliferation of the Aedes mosquito is very high (a situation similar to the Pacific Islands). [6] This poison, recommended by the WHO, is a growth inhibitor of mosquito larvae, which alters the development process larva-pupa-adult, thus generating malformations in developing mosquitoes and causing their death or incapacity. It is analogous to the insect juvenile hormone or juvenoids, which has the effect of inhibiting the development of adult insect characteristics (for example wings, mature external genitalia) and the reproductive development, maintaining an "immature" aspect (nymph or larvae), which means that it acts by endocrine disruption and that is teratogenic.[6] “Orientações técnica para utilização do larvicida pyriproxyfen (0,5 G) no controle de Aedes aegypti”. Ministério da Saúde. http://u.saude.gov.br/images/pdf/2014/maio/30/Instrucoes-para-uso-de-pyriproxyfenmaio-2014.pdf
Posted by: jfl | Oct 28 2016 7:07 utc | 54
A correction: the 0,04 to 2% is the Zika era numbers, which are typical for non-Zika elsewhere. pre-Zika is 2.8%, so the statistical effect is lost in noise, or negative. So my calculations remain reasonable.
Posted by: johan meyer | Oct 28 2016 7:54 utc | 55
As someone who spent hundreds of hours this year trying to explain to fans of the mass media that there was no established causal link betweenthe zika virus and birth defects I'm unsuprised by the revelation, but shocked to hear that in 2016 'health' officials still play russian roulette with children by spraying insecticides around populated areas.
Forty years ago I was living in Darwin a town on the coast of North Australia which had a high incidence of mosquito born diseases especially one known as Ross River fever. About 90% of the residential buildings in the town had been destroyed by a cyclone in 1976, so that for several years citizens lacked a home that was 100% mosquito proof - most of us got by with mosquito nets and Chinese 'mozzie coils' but for some stupid reason the council in conjunction with the department of health decided to spray suburban areas with an insecticide every evening. The trucks which were huge noisy and released a suffocating mist quickly became known as the 'fog machine'.
Anyway during the period Darwin was fogged, the incidence of children born with Down Syndrome increased markedly - an epidemiologist compared the clusters of Downs births with those areas most heavily fogged.
There was a close correlation but no causal evidence of a connection. Statistical correlations are not science the pols bureuacrats and businesspeople with an interest in the fog machine repeated incessantly.
It took a few years but eventually the politicians saw that people simply didn't believe the spin and it was decided to stop fogging as a swing against the incumbent was growing & fogging was an element in the swing.
Fogging was stopped & the incidence of new Downs syndrome cases receded to the same level as occurs in the rest of Oz.
AFAIK No one ever managed to 'prove' the connection the research required to do so was too expensive and would inevitably result in big compensation claims.
Posted by: Debsisdead | Oct 28 2016 10:52 utc | 56
"The Zika Virus Is Harmless - It Does Not Cause Birth Defects - We Told You So"
Boy! Talk about wild confirmation bias. What a Zika Truther circle jerk here.
Posted by: Al | Oct 28 2016 13:51 utc | 59
Claims that science is still alive are greatly exaggerated.
Science is dead.
There now are elderly scientists who claim they could not possibly function in any ethical manner in today's universities and corporations. The new peasants with PhDs are required to constantly produce mountains of shoddy, worthless, and biased "papers" by administrators and executives. They are herded into supporting conclusions previously decided upon by their bosses. The concepts of tenure and job security are nothing more than quaint relics of a bygone era.
90% of "scientific studies", peer reviewed or not, are completely worthless now. About 50% of scientific experiments do not even yield the same results when repeated.
What we call "science" these days is in reality a realm of feudal plantations ruled by vastly overcompensated administrators, executives, and their vassals.
Posted by: blues | Oct 28 2016 14:16 utc | 60
Has anyone compared the zika virus found in that area of Brazil with high rates of infection to those found in Colombia and other parts of Brazil? Is it the same virus?
That microcephaly is only happening at a higher rate in one part of Brazil suggests something else is going on, not zika or not just zika or a mutated zika. Something is fishy
Posted by: Alaric | Oct 28 2016 14:18 utc | 61
Thanks, Al, for your confession that you don't understand random variables, statistical inference etc. I notice also that you compare the op and its defenders to truthers, an example of the classical propaganda techniques of name calling and guilt by association. My general experience with operatives such as yourself with regards to the truther movement is that you lack the relevant background to defend or oppose the NIST report, which is why you raised the patently irrelevant and potentially thread disrupting matter of the truther movement, so called. Are you a sock puppet of schlub? Schlub also likes to do thread derails.
Posted by: johan meyer | Oct 28 2016 14:48 utc | 62
johan meyer | Oct 28, 2016 2:54:37 AM | 52
http://thescientificparent.org/is-monsanto-behind-cases-of-microcephaly-in-brazil/#more-3605
I take it that you are referring to the paragraph that starts with "there are three factual errors." One of the claimed errors is that the pesticide was not used in the capital, and another that it is used elsewhere in Brazil without increase in microcephaly. Both claims are irrelevant. Again, my question is for evidence that the pesticide was added to the water supply. The city in question (Recife) gets 75% of its water from the state water supply corporation, hence presumably from the dam(s) that were sprayed. Your source conflates urban and water source spraying.
The propaganda tactic being used in your source is very closely related to the DDT related propaganda, in which it is fraudulently alleged that Rachel Carson achieved a total ban on DDT, as compared to the actual ban on agricultural use---use against mosquitos around and in homes remains very much legal, e.g. in South Africa and elsewhere.
Posted by: johan meyer | Oct 28 2016 15:34 utc | 64
Not quite off topic.
There has been no mention of Genetic Pre-disposition in this discussion. GP-d boils down to the question "why does (smoking for example) kill some (smokers) but by no means all?"
I don't know how far advanced gene 'science' is in parsing the Total Genome, but the last news I heard was that at least half of it still 'mysterious'. Have any of the studies of Zika involved logging the DNA of victims to explore the possibility that microencephaly is potentially a GP-d problem (like breast cancer and many other dis-eases)?
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Oct 28 2016 16:16 utc | 65
@jdmckay you should also have a look at the evidence in your reference that Colombia has used the chemical (whether in drinking water or otherwise)---their link is a spanish MSDS sheet---sic.
Posted by: johan meyer | Oct 28 2016 16:32 utc | 66
jm @ 64
As I said, I'll largely sit this one out... let researchers do their thing. AFAIC, there's not nearly enough data available publicly to even begin to construct a reliable scenario & cause/effect corollary.
One of the claimed errors is that the pesticide was not used in the capital, and another that it is used elsewhere in Brazil without increase in microcephaly. Both claims are irrelevant. Again, my question is for evidence that the pesticide was added to the water supply. The city in question (Recife) gets 75% of its water from the state water supply corporation, hence presumably from the dam(s) that were sprayed.
That *could*... could, be relevant. An awful lot of "coulds" there. Would need records of above ground water sources, spray dates (if any) for each. Then if any of them were sprayed, some pretty difficult calculations to come up with dilution factors transporting xxx volume of water dispersed throughout Recife... probably further complicated by multiple water sources, & who knows how many of those were sprayed.
I don't care to jump to any conclusions, just don't know enough.
Your source conflates urban and water source spraying.
With all due respect I don't think you can say that either. Would have to talk to Ken, see how much of this "distribution" issue was taken into consideration before his statements. You have to make an unknown assumption to say that.
Google does a decent job translating that page if you use auto-detect. Seems spraying listed there was agricultural. Doesn't provide exact locations, so... would have to have location, where runoff goes, etc. etc.
I don't have time/inclination to dig into this further, sorry.
@jdmckay The only other interpretations that are plausible to me is that he chose not to inform himself, and rely on his prejudices (e.g. spelling errors---I once submitted a tex/pdf paper to a journal, that then had some small fry Indian shop retype my manuscript, mangling my equations and adding spelling errors), or that he is busy with a debate with people who claim that spraying without application to dams will cause microcephaly. In either case, his argument remains irrelevant. Whether or not the larvacide is the cause of the microcephaly, the delivery to Recife will be exactly comparable to any other towns using the same water source---diffusion will have its main impact before the first branch in the supply pipes. So far, your reference and arguments are irrelevant.
Posted by: johan meyer | Oct 28 2016 17:16 utc | 69
Shocked! I tell you...
Shocked that msm is actually dumping the zika hoax so quickly. Money made, vaccines produced, experiments conducted, fear instilled, society engineered etc. Guess there must be another virus waiting in the wings? Or maybe it's a rope a dope... Fear The "accomplice"? That may be the nexT angle leading to round two for the zika freekout but more likely they realized Zika (cue spooky voice) just... Wasn't... SCAAAARRRRYYY enough. Myself, and I'm sure PLENTY others knew this was BS from day one. Literally, day friggin one, but I suppose since I just basically assume anything published in msm in the vain of the initial zika story is a lie at this point anyway, so that even had I not known one single thing about zika beforehand, I would have been right to assume (another) fabricated medical scare story- again, not that being right makes me anything other than reasonably informed, completely skeptical of msm and ms-s(cience) and just plain jaded to the core.m Once you see how the dialectic operates you can't see the news any other way.
Posted by: Colinjames | Oct 28 2016 19:00 utc | 70
the stats in Brazil correlate directly with the application of larvacide directly to stored drinking water, not to any "spread" of Zika. the Recife "exception" is unclear - there may be poorer areas than others and water sources technically crossing a border.
treating stem cells with virus and then claiming the virus seeks out the cells is questionable. the larvacide is known to impact larvae by stunting developmental growth, and the larvacide itself has been engineered over the years to do more (anybody with a dog notice the different flea & tick choices over recent years? same stuff. don't eat it.)
the right thing to do is simply modernize water systems for the poor. Monsanto et al prefers to sell more poison and get more public funds for research for more mosquito experiments to perform on poor people. surprise.
btw, the genetically modified mosquitoes temporarily increased virus transmission since the short-term number of pregnant females (the ones that bite) increased bites. I don't know if I believe there is a long term benefit to the strategy, but anyway, the best way to reduce bites is to keep breeding water a certain distance from living quarters which wealthy people do. it would be cheaper in the long run for Brazil to build some plumbing.
I feel sad for the planet because of who controls it.
Posted by: anon | Oct 29 2016 17:18 utc | 71
p.s. a lot of "studies" claim to be finding people "positive" for Zika without specfiying whether the virus is active or just evidence of previous infection.
Posted by: anon | Oct 29 2016 17:31 utc | 72
"The Zika Virus Is Harmless - It Does Not Cause Birth Defects - We Told You So"
Wrong! The Zika virus, in addition to using a bad pesticide, does cause birth defects.
Are you that stupid?
Posted by: Bardi | Oct 30 2016 0:32 utc | 73
It does seem that zika might be triggering guillain-barré syndrome (GBS) in susceptible individuals (just like flu vaccines). GBS seems to be causing cell death preferentially in neurological tissue. My suspicion therefore is that the small rise that some countries are seeing in microcephaly and miscarriages might turn out to be a fetal form of GBS. That being said, I theorise that the rates of fetal GBS triggered by zika will turn out to be no more higher as for adult GBS. Given that it cannot be as yet predicted who is susceptible to GBS, the same can be said of the unborn. Further, given that Zika is already associated with GBS, I shudder to think what a vaccine for Zika will do to GBS rates. Imagine therefore the possible consequences of a pregnant woman getting a zika vaccine (horrors). I specifically used the term cell death instead of auto-immune, because objectors might state that an embryo does not have a developed immune response and if GBS is an autoimmune response, how can a fetus be affected. While that may be so, this study of mosaic down syndrome mice embryos https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/behindtheheadlines/news/2016-03-30-embryos-with-defective-cells-can-still-develop-healthily/ does suggest that there is some sort of mechanism for cell self-destruction in embryos - which might go out of control in any number of congential defect scenarios. Anyway, that's just my two pence which may or may not be worth all that much at current inflation rates.
Posted by: Mk | Oct 30 2016 0:44 utc | 74
This is interesting from Aangirfan (who alas also just stunningly falls for the latest outrageous bull from the Rockefeller outpost Veterans Today regarding Trump, as one of the commenters rightly pointed out, argument that Hellbi*ch set up her private server to PROTECT it from the Israelis, which everyone knows had minimal protection from anybody, is one of the most fu*king stupid things ever said about this affair):
[..]
Alisa Swidler is a Trustee of Sabin Vaccine Institute.
Alisa and her son Ash took first-aid kits to a remote area of Liberia.
'The village was hit by Ebola a week after they departed.'
[..]
Posted by: ProPeace | Oct 31 2016 12:08 utc | 75
The comments to this entry are closed.
Think of the floor of vox media et all articles "it's time to eradicate the mosquito." I wish we were not all so easily lead. The planet has its ways of keeping things in balance and dumping thousands of tons of poison in the water supply isn't necessarily one of them
Posted by: Cresty | Oct 27 2016 11:18 utc | 1