Much to the chagrin of scientists and skeptics, the Zika virus outbreak has caused new conspiracy theories surrounding the illness to crop up across the Internet.
Perhaps the most prominent theory making the rounds online is that the seemingly sudden emergence of Zika is due to the release of genetically modified mosquitoes which have been used to combat the spread of the disease.
Critics of GMOs suggest that the genetic tinkering inadvertently led to the virus becoming more easily spread and also spawned the seemingly newfound side effect of birth defects associated with Zika victims.
Meanwhile, vaccine critics contend that the birth defects are not even related to the Zika virus and are, in fact, due to vaccinations which were administered to pregnant women in Brazil back in 2014.
On a somewhat similar note, another camp of conspiracists have argued that the Zika virus outbreak is a product of media manipulation in order to eventually steer the populace into receiving a vaccine for the disease.
Reasons offered for such a plot include pharmaceutical profiteering or a psychological operation to see how easily the public can be manipulated.
And, of course, the always-ominous specter of orchestrated population control and bioterrorism have been presented as possible sources of the Zika virus outbreak.
Scientists have already begun debunking these various theories surrounding the surprising emergence of Zika and insist that the outbreak is a naturally-occurring event.
Then again ... that's what they would want us to think.
Nonetheless, a complete overview of the outbreak of Zika virus conspiracy theories and the reasons why scientists say they are impossible can be found at ScienceBlogs.