The epidemic raged and the locust plague came back. How bad is the situation in Africa? How will the future develop?

In the Bible, when the Israelites left Egypt, the ten disasters that God visited Egypt were blood disaster, frog disaster, lice disaster, fly disaster, animal plague, sore disaster, hail disaster, locust disaster, darkness disaster and killing the eldest son, and locust disaster was the eighth disaster!

Moses obeyed God's command and extended his staff to Egypt. God made the east wind blow to the ground and brought locusts to Egypt. The plague of locusts spread all over the ground like never before, and even it got dark, eating up all the vegetables and fruits left on the trees after the fire.

Of course, we don't believe in the disasters predicted in the Bible, but the plague of locusts raging in Africa and the COVID-19 epidemic sweeping the world may change the future pattern of Africa and have a far-reaching impact!

Locust plaguing Africa

In fact, the source of African locusts was a locust plague in Arabian Peninsula in 20 18. This disaster is unbelievable, but it is very natural. There are several reasons. Let's talk briefly about why it lasted so long!

The source of locust plague

Cause: In the south of Arabian Peninsula in 20 18, yellow eggs that have been lurking for many years began to hatch due to monsoon rainfall. Unfortunately, these locusts hatched in no man's land in the south, so they bred there for two seasons. Every time locusts breed, the size of the locust swarm will multiply, because a locust can lay hundreds of eggs, and each egg will hatch into a locust!

Migration: All the local green plants have been eaten up by locusts, and the rest is migration, looking for edible crops everywhere, so some of them have spread to Iran, Pakistan and India, and the other part has spread to the Horn of Africa, Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya! Since then, this situation has occurred repeatedly in these countries. Because these countries don't pay much attention to prevention and control, they don't do a good job in the prevention and control of locusts from the stop of breeding season to the hatching of nymphs. Therefore, after two years of tossing, the scale of locusts is far from that at the beginning of 20 18.

Fao planes are killing locusts.

Impact: Countries in East Africa, Southern Arabia, West Asia and South Asia have all suffered from space locusts. This year 1 month, February and March are the periods of locust plague. I believe everyone knows it very well, such as various news:

Locust plagues in Africa and South Asia from June to March in 5438.

The impact will be enormous. It can be said that nothing grows where the locusts pass. Except for the bare hard stalks, other crops that can be eaten by locusts will be completely eliminated, and hundreds of millions of locust eggs will be left on the ground swept by locusts, which will be a double locust plague for local locusts and migratory locusts in the future.

Locusts make a comeback

During the period from March to April, the news about locust plague temporarily stopped, but FAO has been issuing warnings about the development of locust plague, three times in March and three times in April, each time warning that new locust breeding areas began to form. Of course, this is by no means empty talk. Once the locusts laying eggs all the way form the second wave of locust plague in 2020, the scale will be1-higher than before.

The latest trend of locust plague at the end of April

Latest report of FAO on locust plague in Africa

The latest report of desert locusts on May 8: The locust plague poses an unprecedented threat to food security and livelihood in East Africa. Nymphs are developing in large numbers in Kenya and southern Ethiopia. Nymphs in northern Somalia may gather in groups and may migrate if they continue to develop.

Migratory locust swarms are forming along the coast of Saudi Arabia, adult locust swarms are beginning to form in northern Oman, and locust swarms are also beginning to gather in northeastern United Arab Emirates. Although all countries in the Arabian Peninsula are actively preventing and controlling locusts, there is still a disaster trend.

Eggs on the southwestern Iranian coast near the Strait of Hormuz and bordering Pakistan tend to hatch, and the migration of spring breeding areas in Baluchistan province of Pakistan has begun. Since May 2, some immature adult populations and migratory locust populations have appeared in Rajasthan, India. The control actions of these three countries continue. The desert areas on both sides of the India-Pakistan border need to strengthen monitoring and reporting.

So at present, the locust plague continues to be tight, and just in the news in early May, 50 "cannons" (large-range pesticide spraying equipment) that China helped Pakistan fight locusts will arrive in Pakistan in the middle and late May, just in time to catch up with the great cause of fighting locusts!

In the locust plague in June+10-March, 5438, the affected population in Africa has spread to 43 million people in 9 countries. In the latest locust disaster prediction model, locusts will cross the African continent and reach West Africa. If the plague of locusts really continues to expand, the whole Africa may be shrouded in the shadow of the plague of locusts!

The epidemic situation in Africa is grim

Not only the plague of locusts, but also Africa is threatened by COVID-19, which swept the world. What is even more worrying is that many countries in Africa are poor and unable to cope with the COVID-19 epidemic, so the threat to Africa is even greater than that of developed countries!

Researchers in Imperial College London, London, made a surprising prediction in a study last month. Assuming that no anti-epidemic measures are taken, COVID-19 may kill 3 million people in Africa. John Nkengasong, director of the African Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that if no action is taken at all, 654.38+03 billion people on the African continent will be infected. But African people will not sit idly by, and African countries have taken severe prevention and control measures.

Almost all African countries have closed their borders, asked people to keep social distance, closed schools and banned large gatherings to slow down the spread of the virus. Thirty-four countries have taken further measures, and 2 1 country has restricted all unnecessary domestic activities. 1 1 African countries require people to wear masks in public places!

Ugandan health workers take people's temperature in the street.

But the number of confirmed cases in Africa is increasing rapidly.

As of May 10, the cumulative number of confirmed cases in African countries has approached 60,000. Under the pressure of economic production, deregulation in some African countries is the main factor for the sharp increase in the number of confirmed cases!

Global epidemic map

It is difficult to refer to the experience of developed countries in Africa, and the serious shortage of infrastructure, especially medical resources, is the biggest dilemma. Africa must have its own epidemic prevention methods, and prevention is the best way with the lowest cost, but many countries including Africa can't do it, because the downward pressure on the economy is too great, so the future trend of the epidemic in Africa is still worrying!

2020 is an unsafe year, and the threats that the world needs to deal with are unprecedented, and Africa may encounter more!