Eleven die in asthma epidemic caused by grasshoppers in central Sudan

KHARTOUM, Nov 1 (AFP) — Eleven people have died and 1,685 others were taken to hospital after an asthma epidemic caused by a grasshopper invasion broke out in central Sudan nearly two weeks ago, a doctor said Saturday.

Sayyed Mustafa, from the Wad Medani city hospital, said the epidemic “seems” to have been brought under control as no new cases have been reported since Thursday.

“It seems that the spraying operations were effective because we have not received new cases of asthma yesterday and today,” he told AFP by telephone.

The ministry of health in Sudan’s Gezira state said in a statement that the disease had spread to an “unprecedented proportion” in Wad Medani, the capital of this agricultural area, the official Al Anbaa newspaper reported.

Local authorities have supplied the hospital with the necessary medicines to handle the disease, while spraying had been intensified to eliminate the “unprecedented numbers” of grasshoppers which raided the city.

Grasshoppers, which live on plant stems, emit a nasty smell that causes asthma, the ministry said.