Dr. Robert Zubrin: Use DDT To Fight Zika Virus

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Dr. Robert Zubrin, the President of Pioneer Energy and author of the book, Energy Victory, says governmental bureaucracies around the world are not doing enough to stop the Zika virus and called for the use of the pesticide DDT to eradicate the mosquitoes that spread it.

Zubrin, talking with Rich Zeoli on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT, said the virus has very serious consequences if contracted by a pregnant woman.

"It's a virus, but not a bacteria, which means it can't be stopped with anti-biotics. There are some viruses that can be prevented with vaccines, but it could take years or decades to find a vaccine against Zika virus. Zika, if it infects you and you're an adult, the symptoms are fairly mild, mild fever, mild rash, not a big deal. Except that, if you're a pregnant woman and you get this, your baby can be born with parts of its brain missing."

He dismissed government claims that DDT, which has been banned in the US for decades, has a negative impact on the environment and said the benefits of using it now far outweigh any potential hazards.

"It's not just, of course, Zika. There's also Malaria. And there's sorts of other insect born diseases that this could stop and yet these people are standing in the way...You have these bureaucrats, some of whom are ideologically committed and others of whom just don't give a damn, stopping essential medical measures."

Zubrin predicts, without the use of DDT, the Zika Virus will become a global scourge until a vaccine is developed.

"It won't be a pandemic like the 1919 bird flu epidemic that killed 20 million people within months. I think it will become more like a horrifying part of daily life where this spreads throughout the world and then one in a hundred births are malformed because of this. This is something that people will have to put up with for decades."