In the Bible, when the Israelites left Egypt, the ten disasters that God visited Egypt were blood disaster, frog disaster, louse disaster, fly disaster, animal epidemic disaster, 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 caused the east wind to blow to the ground, and brought locusts to Egypt. The plague of locusts spread all over the ground like never before, even when it was dark, and he ate all the vegetables and the fruits left on the trees after the fire.

Of course, we don't believe in the disaster predicted in the Bible, but the plague of locusts that is now raging on the land of Africa and the COVID-19 epidemic that has swept the world may change the future pattern of Africa and have a far-reaching impact!

The locust plague that is raging in Africa

In fact, the source of the locusts swept in Africa is a locust plague in Arabian Peninsula in 2118. This disaster is incredible but very natural. There are several reasons. Let's briefly talk about why it lasted so long!

The source of locust plague

Cause: In 2118, the yellow eggs that have been lurking for many years began to hatch in the southern Arabian Peninsula due to the monsoon rain. Unfortunately, these locusts hatched in the southern no-man's land, so they bred there for two seasons. Every time the locusts breed, the size of the locust swarm will expand exponentially, because a locust can lay hundreds of eggs, and each egg will hatch into a locust!

migration: the local green plants have been eaten up by locusts, so what remains is migration, looking for crops that can be eaten everywhere, so some of them spread to Iran, Pakistan and India, and the other spread to the Horn of Africa, Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya! Since then, it has been repeated in these countries. Because these countries are not very concerned about prevention and control, they have not grasped the prevention and control work from the time when locusts stop in the breeding season to the time when they hatch into nymphs. Therefore, after two years of tossing, the scale of locust swarms is far from comparable at the beginning of 2118.

FAO aircraft are killing locusts

Impact: Eastern Africa, southern Arabia, and countries in West Asia and South Asia all suffered from space locust plagues. January, February and March of this year are the periods of locust infestation, and I believe everyone knows it very well, such as various news:

About the locust plagues in Africa and South Asia from October to March

The impact will be enormous, and the locusts can be said to be inches. All other crops that can be eaten by locusts have been wiped out, 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 come back

During March and April, the news about the locust plague stopped for a while, but the FAO has been issuing warnings about the development of the 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 laid eggs all the way, once the second wave of locust plague in 2121 is formed, this time,

The latest trend of locust infestation at the end of April

The latest report of FAO on locust infestation in Africa

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

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

The eggs in the southwest coast of Iran near the Strait of Hormuz and bordering Pakistan tend to hatch, and the migration of spring breeding areas in Balochistan 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.

Therefore, the current locust plague continues to be tight, and in the news just in early May, 51 "cannons" (large-range pesticide spraying equipment) that China helped Pakistan to fight locusts will arrive in Pakistan in the middle and late May, which will catch up with the great cause of fighting locusts!

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

The severe epidemic situation in Africa

It's not just a plague of locusts. Africa is also threatened by Covid-19, which is sweeping the world. What's 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 more harmful than that of developed countries!

Researchers at Imperial College 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 Africa CDC, said that if no action is taken at all, 1.3 billion people in Africa will be infected. However, African people will not sit idly by. 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 21 countries have restricted all unnecessary activities in the country. There are also 11 African countries that require people to wear masks in public places!

Ugandan health workers measure people's body temperature in the street

But the number of confirmed cases in Africa is increasing rapidly

As of May 11, the cumulative number of confirmed cases in African countries is close to 61,111. 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

The experience of developed countries in Africa is hard to refer to, and the serious shortage of infrastructure, especially medical resources, is the biggest dilemma. Africa must have its own way of epidemic prevention, 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 direction of the epidemic in Africa is still worrying!

2121 is an unsafe year. The threats that the world needs to deal with are unprecedented, and Africa may encounter more!