Thought of the Day - July 7 2021 - Not the Only Plague, Follow-Up

It has been a year since the blog article on the Locust Plague that devastated parts of the Middle-East, Africa, Pakistan and India ( Thought of the Day - July 9 - SARS-CoV-2, Not the Only Plague Sweeping the World ) in 2020. There were concerns that 2021, driven by the offspring of the 2020 swarms, could be even more devastating. But, it looks like the news is better than expected.

The progeny of the 2020 swarms continue to cause damage across East Africa. But now, countries are better able to combat them — equipped with the new technology, aircraft and thousands of trained government locust trackers. In February alone, locust-patrolling pilots in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia flew the equivalent of three times the circumference of the globe. They sprayed swarms before they had time to mature, stopping the insects from multiplying and spreading into Uganda and South Sudan, as they did last year.

Since February 2020, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that this effort in East Africa has averted the loss of agricultural products with a commercial value of $1.5 billion — saving the livelihoods of 34 million people.

Looking at the latest Locust Watch report from the beginning of July, things in the Horn of Africa, the driver for last year's blight, sound much better:

Important infestations remain in the Horn of Africa while other regions are calm.

• SOMALIA. Aerial and ground operations reduced locust infestations on the coast, escarpment, and plateau in the northwest (Somaliland) where very few swarms have been seen in the past few days;

• ETHIOPIA. A few late instar hopper bands and several immature swarms are present in the railway area near Ayasha and the borders of Djibouti and Somalia;

• DJIBOUTI. Small late instar hopper bands and immature swarms are present in the south.

• SAUDI ARABIA. No locusts have been seen since 22 June;

• YEMEN. An immature swarm was seen in the highlands north of Sana’a on 30 June.

• SUDAN. Local breeding and scattered adults with a few small groups are present in the interior;

• SW ASIA. No locusts seen during recent surveys in Iran, Pakistan and India.

Current field operations, as well as extreme vigilance, should be maintained in Ethiopia, northern Somalia, Djibouti and Yemen.

Meanwhile, although a rather "mixed bag", new COVID cases in these countries also seem fairly stable:

All in all, great news, and a reminder that COVID prevention is not the only game in town.

Cheers

Cliff