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Grasshopper swarm leaves 11 dead
Sydney Morning Herald ^
| November 2, 2003
| Reuters
Posted on 11/01/2003 7:09:26 PM PST by aculeus
Eleven people died and thousands were taken to hospital with breathing difficulties after a swarm of grasshoppers invaded a town in central Sudan.
Health authorities in Wad Medani, capital of the central al-Jezira state, said an epidemic of what they considered to be asthma had afflicted 1,685 people since October 22, all of whom had since been cured.
The government-owned Al-Anbaa newspaper reported 11 people had died from the breathing difficulties.
"The appearance of the epidemic is linked to the unprecedented increase in the grasshopper insects," the daily quoted the health authorities as saying.
Resident Joseph Mogum in Wad Medani, about 176 km southeast of the capital Khartoum, said the grasshoppers gave off a strong smell which caused breathing problems.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation said on October 21 that swarms of locusts were threatening crops in northeastern Sudan, Mauritania and northern Niger, but it was not clear if it was the same species that was affecting Wad Medani in central Sudan.
Mogum said the grasshoppers were smaller than the usual species that appear during the rainy season in Sudan and destroy vegetation.
Heavy rains in Africa's largest country over the past three months have caused floods that have killed at least 20 people.
TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: africa; asthma; pestilence; sudan
1
posted on
11/01/2003 7:09:26 PM PST
by
aculeus
To: aculeus; AAABEST; Ace2U; Alamo-Girl; Alas; amom; AndreaZingg; Anonymous2; ApesForEvolution; ...
Rights, farms, environment ping.
Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from this list.
I don't get offended if you want to be removed.
For real time political chat - Radio Free Republic chat room
2
posted on
11/01/2003 7:11:44 PM PST
by
farmfriend
( Isaiah 55:10,11)
To: aculeus
Let's see; penis-shrinking hexes, floods, grasshoppers..... All this and slavery too.
Sudan is Muslim paradise.
3
posted on
11/01/2003 7:14:35 PM PST
by
keithtoo
To: aculeus
said the grasshoppers gave off a strong smell which caused breathing problems.Grasshoppers fart?
I didn't know that.
4
posted on
11/01/2003 7:15:33 PM PST
by
Willie Green
(Go Pat Go!!!)
To: keithtoo
Mohammedans versus Grasshoppers. Grasshoppers win.
5
posted on
11/01/2003 7:15:54 PM PST
by
nwrep
To: Willie Green
They can have nasty spit!
6
posted on
11/01/2003 7:20:32 PM PST
by
max_rpf
To: max_rpf
camel vs. grasshopper spit or posteriorially(?) emitted gas.. I'll take camel any day.
7
posted on
11/01/2003 7:32:44 PM PST
by
NormsRevenge
(Semper Fi)
To: max_rpf
They can have nasty spit!Hey, that's right!
I had forgotten all about that.
But now that you mention it, I remember that (as kids) we thought the hoppers were spitting chewing tobacco. Kind of a dark brown, yucky spit.
8
posted on
11/01/2003 7:34:24 PM PST
by
Willie Green
(Go Pat Go!!!)
To: nwrep
Sadly it sounds like the worst infestation is in the Christian part of the Sudan.
9
posted on
11/01/2003 7:35:15 PM PST
by
John H K
To: aculeus
What they need are more mountain lions. They'd eat 'em.
Ahhhh...I can dream, can't I...
10
posted on
11/01/2003 7:40:07 PM PST
by
PoorMuttly
("You cannot be a victim and a hero." - Hon. Clarence Thomas)
To: PoorMuttly
Maybe they could get them from Australia.
I hear they have them...well....since Muttly's ancestor's master did them the favor of releasing a few.
11
posted on
11/01/2003 7:42:34 PM PST
by
PoorMuttly
("You cannot be a victim and a hero." - Hon. Clarence Thomas)
To: Willie Green
"we thought the hoppers were spitting chewing tobacco"
...Are you telling me now that they don't?
12
posted on
11/01/2003 8:12:25 PM PST
by
Holly_P
To: farmfriend
BTTT!!!!!!
13
posted on
11/02/2003 3:05:36 AM PST
by
E.G.C.
To: aculeus
The illness is probably coming from the mold spores caused by the floods. The grass hoppers are being used as scape goats.
14
posted on
11/02/2003 11:44:50 AM PST
by
F.J. Mitchell
(If you seen yourself as other people do, you'd laugh too.)
To: aculeus
I hope they have grasshopper-free zones in their school lunchrooms.
15
posted on
11/02/2003 11:50:19 AM PST
by
whereasandsoforth
(tagged for migratory purposes only)
To: Willie Green
I think what the victims contracted was something I've heard called lung eczema.
16
posted on
11/02/2003 11:53:44 AM PST
by
mewzilla
To: Howlin; Ed_NYC; MonroeDNA; widgysoft; Springman; Timesink; dubyaismypresident; Grani; coug97; ...
So it shall be written, so it shall be done...
Just damn.
If you want on the new list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...
17
posted on
11/03/2003 2:42:55 PM PST
by
mhking
To: aculeus
I couldn't understand why these people got so sick, but now I realize that this smell is a chemical thing, perhaps defensive, and must have been very nasty.
What a rotten situation. I pray for these people. They live in a very miserable place as it is.
Man, what a world.
18
posted on
11/03/2003 2:51:52 PM PST
by
PoorMuttly
("You cannot be a victim and a hero." - Hon. Clarence Thomas)
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