Grasshopper swarms bring asthma epidemic - Sudan

[dArKeR]

Swarms of grasshoppers are attacking farm-rich central Sudan, with the worst plague there in three decades also triggering an asthma epidemic that has killed five people, a newspaper said.

The Al-Rai Al-Aam daily said authorities in Gezira state have declared a state of emergency in the hospitals of Wad Medani city to contain the epidemic that broke out when the swarms arrived last Wednesday.

Five people have died among 600 reported cases of asthma in Wad Medani, about 180km southeast of Khartoum, the independent newspaper said. Presumably, the grasshoppers produced huge clouds of dust.

http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=22657