Locust alert in Middle East as plague descends on Egypt and creates panic in Israel
- Israel's Agriculture Ministry set up an emergency hotline and task force
- The swarm is estimated to be made up of 30million insects
- The infestation has been devastating crops in Egypt ahead of Passover
As swarms of locust devour Egyptian crops, the Middle East is bracing for the destructive bugs to migrate their way ahead of the Passover holiday.
A swarm of an estimated 30million insects has been devastating crops in Egypt, fuelling apocalyptic fears because of the infestation’s proximity to the Bible story of Passover in which a swarm of locusts, the eighth of ten plagues, is imposed on Egyptians by God for enslaving and abusing ancient Hebrews.
Israel’s Agriculture Ministry set up an emergency hotline today and urged residents to be vigilant in reporting sightings of the insects to prevent an outbreak.
A special task force has also been set up to help farmers manage infestations.
The locusts pass through the country as part of their normal migration from north east Sudan to Saudi Arabia, the Egyptian Agriculture Ministry said, emphasising that Egypt was just ‘a transfer station’ for the locusts, which were in larger numbers this year.
In a statement from the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, the infestation was described as a ‘immature swarm’ which ‘appeared in the afternoon (on March 2) in the eastern Cairo districts of New Cairo and Mokattam and dispersed into several smaller swarmlets’.
The statement read: ‘The locusts originated from breeding that has been in progress since November in southeast Egypt between Berenice and the Sudanese border.
Killing crops: As the locusts have descended on agricultural farms in Giza and in Cairo, they have caused significant damage to agriculture
‘As vegetation dried out, small groups and swarms of immature adults moved slowly north along the Red Sea coast, reaching Marsa Alam on 8 February, Hurghada on the 16th and Zafarana on the 26th.’
As well as Israel, Lebanon and Jordan have been alerted.
