How does a locust contagious disease spread?

Herds of desert locusts that wreaked havoc in South Asia and the Horn of Africa last year and earlier this year are in the process of re-breeding, and a second wave of potential attacks could increase the threat to human food and related items. Have been. This is the worst locust attack in a quarter of a century. How did the situation get so serious? This type of desert locust, which is a type of locust, is usually solitary. It hatches from an egg into a young locust and then begins to fly with the adult locusts. However, these desert locusts go through a period of change in a manic way. When they take the form of a large crowd and the green food area begins to shrink, then these lonely creatures do not remain and come out of their shells and become tiny wild creatures. In this age of new social interactions, the insects change color and shape, then take on the form of large clusters that fly like pandemic-destroying flags. Such clusters can sometimes be very large. In a single day, they could contain more than ten billion locusts and spread over hundreds of kilometers. These locusts can travel 120 kilometers a day and can be devastating to rural life where they start eating everything to satisfy their hunger. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), an average herd can destroy crops, which can be enough for 2,500 people a year. According to UN estimates, the two-year-old locust attack, which began in 2003, destroyed تباہ 2.5 billion worth of crops in West Africa alone. However, in the thirties, forties and then fifties, locust attacks continued. Some swarms of locusts spread to many areas, which necessitated the declaration of an epidemic. According to the FAO as a whole, one out of every ten people on the planet is affected by these locusts. For this reason, it is considered to be the worst transmitted epidemic in the world. Rea: The FAO will say 'low' is the period when locusts grow in small numbers, while 'increase' refers to the period when they grow in large numbers. It occurs when locust heart attacks last for more than a year. When the epidemic reaches its climax, this period is called the 'fall'. Earlier this year, desert locusts destroyed crops and fodder in the Horn of Africa and beyond, threatening food security throughout the region. These destructive insects wreaked havoc in January and February in various parts of Pakistan, as well as in many East African countries such as Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia. It was the worst outbreak in Kenya in 70 years and the worst in 25 years for Somalia and Ethiopia. The FAO fears that favorable conditions in March and beyond could lead to another heart attack, which could once again pose an unprecedented threat to people's livelihoods. The FAO warns that if efforts are not made to control the locusts, the number of locusts could increase 20-fold. This could be particularly devastating for East Africa, which is already plagued by conflict, drought and The region is prone to food insecurity due to floods. Not only that, but the threat is looming over Iran and Yemen, where new locusts are emerging. In East Africa, locusts already have millions of acres.

Crops and pastures on the area have been damaged. According to the FAO, when the locust heart attack was at its peak, these insects covered an area of ​​350 square kilometers with about two tons.

Crops were being eaten daily The FAO estimates that an average locust swarm could spread over an area of ​​40 to 60 kilometers. According to FAO official Keith Krisman, the new locust infestation in Kenya and Ethiopia could be even bigger. This is disturbing in its place, but there can be no worse time than when it is happening. This is the beginning of the rainy season and tree planting in these countries. The seeds are being sown and the buds are sprouting and this locust has come to the heart. 'According to Christmas, these adult locusts will soon lay eggs which will give birth to a new generation of locusts The locust heart crisis has come at a time when the world is suffering from the corona virus and that is why sanctions have been imposed in various countries which has complicated the operation. Ali Bilawako is a 68-year-old farmer from northeastern Kenya. He hoped that this time the crop would be of great benefit to him as this time the rains had increased and the drought was over. But the locusts destroyed his corn and bean crops. "They ate most of our produce and what was left dried up," he said. It has hurt us a lot. We saw our crop ripen, but we couldn't eat it. It was so dark that you couldn't even see the sun. ”The current locust crisis is due to heavy rains and storms in 2018-19 Desert locusts live in arid climates across 30 countries, from West Africa to India - covering an area of ​​about 16 million square kilometers.

According to the United Nations, two years ago, three species of locusts were bred in the southern Arabian Peninsula due to favorable humidity conditions and no one knew about it. In early 2019, the first consignment of locusts flew to Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Iran, and also bred rapidly before reaching East Africa. More flocks were born and by the end of 2019 they had reached Eritrea, Djibouti and Kenya. In the coming months of spring breeding, locust heart attacks are feared in East Africa, Yemen and southern Iran. Although resistance to this type of flag has failed, despite the fact that it affects a large area of ​​land, FAO's Krisman believes that much needs to be done in the early days against existing locust flags. Could "The damage could have been reduced if timely action had been taken in some key areas of these countries," he said. Many countries are now preparing to fight them. Two factors are very important for overcoming them: monitoring them and controlling them effectively. Under the FAO, the Desert Locust Information Service, which monitors the movements of desert locusts, makes predictions and issues warnings to make predictions. The service also provides information on where locusts are, where they are growing and where they can be attacked. But when the number of locusts grows beyond a certain number, as has happened in the Horn of Africa, emergency measures are needed to control their numbers and to stop further growth. Although research is currently under way to deal with these locusts without compromising the environment, the most commonly used method is currently spraying pesticides. By spraying these insects by hand or by spraying with machines or by spraying from airplanes, large flags can be targeted and destroyed in a short time by chemical drugs. Is running an aerial spraying campaign for pesticides. So far, 240,000 hectares have been sprayed in ten countries and hundreds of people have been trained for the job. According to Krisman, the operation is far more effective than the one launched earlier this year, and restrictions on movement due to the corona virus have not affected the operation much. According to Krisman, it is not easy to control such a large number of insects in a remote and wide area. You can't say what percentage of the locust population has been successfully targeted. The steps taken now in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya, as well as in Pakistan, will now determine the direction of the situation. If the current series of attacks crosses the borders of more countries and destroys more regions, then it can be called an epidemic. "That's why it's important to have a concerted effort, an exchange of information and expertise to prevent the situation from getting worse," he said. However, now is the time for any help for Kenya's Ali Bala Wako and his family. All he and his family could do now in the fight against the locusts was to play canisters to repel them as soon as they were invaded. Yet Ali Wako now speaks philosophically of his loss.

"It's God's will," he says. These locusts are also his creatures