NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 9 \u2013 The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has dismissed as false claims circulating on social media that it released mosquitoes in Kenya, following online reports of unusually aggressive insects in parts of Nairobi.<\/p>\n
In a statement, the foundation said it does not release mosquitoes, operate laboratories that do so, or run vector-control activities in Nairobi or anywhere else in the world.<\/p>\n
It added that all malaria prevention and control efforts in Kenya are led by Kenyan authorities and institutions, in line with national laws and regulatory oversight.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe foundation supports Kenyan-led priorities transparently and responsibly, working alongside governments, researchers and public health partners,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n
The clarification follows a post by Senior Counsel Paul Muite, who claimed that the Gates Foundation had released genetically modified mosquitoes intended to fight malaria but which are now harming residents.<\/p>\n
Unconfirmed reports emerged that the insects appear resistant to common repellents, with speculation centring on areas near research institutions such as the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE).<\/p>\n
However, no official public health alerts have been issued confirming a citywide surge in mosquito populations or linking any such reports to research activities.<\/p>\n
The Gates Foundation stressed that it does not run mosquito-release laboratories in Kenya and has no role in deploying insects for vector control. It reiterated that malaria-related research and interventions in the country fall under the authority of Kenyan government agencies, universities and research bodies, all of which operate under strict ethical, legal and regulatory frameworks.<\/p>\n
The foundation urged the public to rely on verified information from health authorities and cautioned against misinformation that could undermine trust in public health institutions and research.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 9 \u2013 The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has dismissed as false claims circulating on social media that it released mosquitoes in Kenya, following online reports of unusually aggressive insects in parts of Nairobi. In a statement, the foundation said it does not release mosquitoes, operate laboratories that do so, or run […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-130389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130389"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130389\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}