The most recent Zika virus outbreak in Brazil and Columbia has affected far more people than any other Zika outbreak since its discovery in 1947. It is affecting far more pregnant women as well. According to the World Health Organization, the recent Zika outbreak is possibly the cause of the increased incidence of microcephaly cases in the region.
One group of Argentine doctors disagrees and instead believes a larvicide is to blame for the increased microcephaly, which is a rare birth defect that causes babies’ brains and skulls to develop abnormally small, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. An affected baby may present with an abnormally small head, brain, or both.
Conflicting Information
Although the instance of microcephaly has increased, and the increase has coincided with the Brazilian outbreak of Zika virus, the CDC states Zika is not the confirmed cause.
The WHO on the other hand states that Zika is the likely cause. A group of Argentine doctors largely against genetically modified organisms (GMOs), Physicians in the Crop Sprayed Villages, disagree with the assertion that Zika caused the increase in microcephaly. The doctors instead believe that the larvicide pyriproxyfen may be to blame, according to the Tech Times.
The larvicide, manufactured by Sumitomo Chemical, disrupts the endocrine system and interferes with the mosquito’s life cycle by creating malformed aedes aegypti mosquitoes that can’t reproduce, according to Sumitomo. The company says pyriproxyfen is, “not mutagenic, not genotoxic, not carcinogenic and not teratogenic.”
The doctors released a report saying,
“In the area where most sick persons live, a chemical larvicide producing malformations in mosquitoes has been applied for 18 months, and that this poison (pyroproxifen) is applied by the State on drinking water used by the affected population.”
Additionally, the Association for Collective Health (ACH) in Brazil believes it’s highly coincidental that at the same time the microcephaly cases increased, the Brazilian government had injected pyriproxyfen into the country’s water supply.
The Zika virus, a cousin of West Nile Virus, is spread by mosquitoes and presented with mild symptomology and no birth defects in prior outbreaks. The recent Zika outbreaks present with more severe rashes and high fever, but are missing some of the classic Zika symptoms like conjunctivitis, also known as pinkeye.
Could the larvicide be a catalyst to the more severe symptomology, or is something else going on?
Doctors Vs. Brazilian Government
The report on the coincidence convinced local Brazilian government Rio Grande do Sul to stop using the larvicide until a definitive link to it is either found, or discredited.
The WHO states both congenital and environmental factors can cause microcephaly, so it is possible that the recent uptick in cases could be caused by Sumitomo’s larvicide. The federal Brazilian government disagrees, saying,
“It’s important to state that some localities that do not use pyriproxyfen also had reported cases of microcephaly.”
The numbers of babies affected by microcephaly definitively attributed to Zika is small, but tentatively confirmed. On the other hand, the majority of babies with the birth defect, but without the Zika virus is much larger, and some have been attributed to other causes such as rubella or the herpes virus.
According to the Telegraph, two studies have found Zika in the brain tissue and amniotic fluid of aborted fetuses and babies who were stillborn, and those who died shortly after birth. Although microcephaly was confirmed in each of these cases presenting with Zika, Zika was not found in all cases of confirmed microcephaly.
The Monsanto Conspiracy Theory
Tech Times report that Monsanto manufactured the larvicide originally implied Monsanto was involved in a cover-up regarding the microcephaly cases. The report has been updated to reflect that this was not the case.
Yes, Sumitomo and Monsanto partner in Brazil, but Monsanto uses Sumitomo’s herbicide in its weed killer program, not the other way around. Considering this and the fact that Monsanto does not manufacture pyriproxyfen – or any other larvicide – Monsanto cannot possibly be behind the microcephaly.
The Brazilian government outright dismissed the link between the larvicide and microcephaly, but studies were never done on long term effects of drinking the chemical. Furthermore, who knows whether the chemical is exacerbating the effects of Zika?
Definitive studies are far from complete, but when they are, the conspiracy theories will continue, and coincidences explained away until a definitive link is found, which the CDC and WHO believe will happen in few weeks.
Featured Image: Microcephaly Via Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Public Domain
