Well, that didn't take long. The Zika virus conspiracies have begun

[progressoid]

Of course, no news story is wasted by the conspiracy theorists. There are already a number of rumors and conspiracies about the Zika virus, all apparently made up out of whole cloth.

Some anti-vaccine and medical conspiracy sites are blaming vaccines for the cases of microcephaly, specifically the Tdap vaccine given to pregnant women. There is no evidence for these claims.

In fact, there have been a number of safety studies showing no increased risk of adverse events in children of women receiving the Tdap vaccine during pregnancy.

Another popular conspiracy theory is that the virus is being spread by genetically modified mosquitoes. This theory fails on multiple levels, but perhaps the single biggest failure is that the genetically modified mosquitoes are all male, and male mosquitoes do not bite. The males are nectar feeders, and only the females feed on blood.

There are also a number of conspiracy theories that the outbreak of Zika is a hoax, or was created on purpose for some nefarious reason. These are Illuminati-level grand conspiracies and are not even coherent enough to directly address.

https://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/update-on-the-zika-virus/

[HuckleB]

1. And another...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12314396

[progressoid]

2. Ha! "the leaders of rational thought like Mike Adams, Alex Jones..."