A German biotech company linked to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has had to refute claims made by social media conspiracists that it is behind a dengue fever outbreak in Brazil. 

Oxitec has received funds from the Gates Foundation. It develops and releases genetically modified mosquitoes to fight dengue and several other tropical diseases in various parts of the world. 

An outbreak of dengue fever has seen Brazil launch an immunisation campaign since February, becoming the first country to provide the vaccine through its public health system. The biotech company has specially bred mosquitoes to help limit the spread of dengue fever. 

In an investigation by AFP found that a Canadian website that the US Department of State warns is linked to Russia’s disinformation and propaganda ecosystem falsely published a story with the headline: ‘Money and Weaponized Mosquitos: Dengue Fever Surges by 400% in Brazil After Bill Gates-Backed Gene-Edited Mosquitos Released’.  

Social media posts on Facebook spread, blaming the Gates Foundation for the rise in dengue fever.  

Over a million have contracted dengue fever in 2024 alone. In the first five weeks of 2024 , more than 395,000 likely cases of the mosquito-borne disease were recorded, four times more than in the same period last year. 

A spokesperson at the Gates Foundation told AFP that the foundation ‘does not fund any of Oxitec’s work involving Aedes aegypti mosquito release in Brazil.’ 

Grants provided have gone towards addressing malaria.  

In December, the Gates Foundation committed $59.2 million in support of eradicating polio by 2026.

The funding includes a concessional loan of up to $59.2 million, with a principal buy-down of up to $21.5 million from the Gates Foundation. Funds will go towards Pakistan’s national health institutions and the Pakistan Polio Eradication Initiative. 

Shafi Musaddique is the news editor at Alliance magazine