Overlapping of locust swarms with COVID-19 pandemic: a cascading disaster for Africa

Type Journal Article Author Mizanur Rahaman Author Otun Saha Author Nadira Naznin Rakhi Author Miraj Kobad Chowdhury Author Peter Sammonds Author ASM Maksud Kamal URL https://doi.org/10.1080/20477724.2020.1793595 Volume 114 Issue 6 Pages 285-286 Publication Taylor & Francis Online | Pathogens and Global Health ISSN 2047-7724 Date 14/07/2020 Extra Publisher: Taylor & Francis _eprint: https://doi.org/10.1080/20477724.2020.1793595 PMID: 32662750 DOI 10.1080/20477724.2020.1793595 Library Catalog Taylor and Francis+NEJM Abstract The current world is in crisis with the continuing COVID-19 pandemic that has affected 215 countries and territories globally, infecting more than 11 million and causing the death of over half a million people so far (https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html). Beside severe healthcare crises, the pandemic has already imposed deep scars in the global economy and socio-political stability. The economic fallout from the global pandemic could increase global poverty to include as much as half a billion more people, or 8% of the total human population, reversing 30 years of economic improvement [1]. Non-pharmaceutical strategies like social distancing and lockdowns have become indispensable to contain this highly transmissible virus, but the resulting shutdown of trade implies an unimaginable threat to food production, supply chains and livelihoods. Simultaneous to the COVID-19 pandemic, locust swarms primarily of desert locusts (Schistocerca gregaria) are threatening agriculture production and pasture in 23 countries to date. Currently affected are nine countries in the East African region, eleven from North Africa and the Middle East, and three countries from South Asia. Locust outbreaks of large numbers have a history of having extreme effects over food production and mortality. The locust invasion of November 1915–1916 caused starvation or starvation-related diseases in Syria and Palestine, and killed 100,000–200,000 people in the region [2]. The current locust swarm, which began in July 2019, has become endemic in Africa, and alongside the COVID-19 pandemic, it is a disaster with a cascading risk [3]. It is presumed that with the world’s attention on COVID-19, the locust-endemic is perceived as a relatively overlooked hazard risk. This has been borne out due to the failed control of the locust infestation in countries which first saw locusts, including Somalia, Kenya, and South Africa. As a result, the swarm has crossed from the Horn of Africa to Pakistan, where the government has declared a national emergency to combat the attack and save crops, just as the Somalian government did. The cascade of both catastrophes may result in a disaster escalating toward famine, health-hazards and poverty in the regions at risk. A recent locust plague in West Africa (2003–2005) severely disrupted agriculture, destroying 2.5 USD billion in crops destined for both subsistence and export Short Title Overlapping of locust swarms with COVID-19 pandemic