Gates looses mosquitoes on tech conference bloodsuckers
Bill Gates opened a jar of mosquitoes on stage at a conference for elite technology bloodsuckers on Wednesday to make a point about the spread of malaria.
"Malaria is spread by mosquitoes," Gates said before unleashing the insects at the Technology, Entertainment, and Design (TED) conference in Long Beach, California. "I brought some. Here, I'll let them roam around. There is no reason only poor people should be infected."
Some breathless accounts of the incident described the philanthropist releasing a "swarm" of mosquitoes, although TED organizers claim it was only a few.
Gates waited a few minutes before assuring the audience none of the mosquitoes carried malaria. He has also told the world that SPAM will be eradicated by January 2006.
The former Microsoft head has been pushing to reduce malaria deaths through his nonprofit organization, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In September, Gates said the Foundation would provide $168.7m to help develop a vaccine for malaria.
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