“A plague of locusts is being blamed for an epidemic of allergic attacks in central Sudan. At least 11 people have died and thousands are reported to have been hospitalised, suffering from what Sudanese officials are calling ‘lung eczema’.

The outbreak centres around Sudan’s second largest city of Medani, 180 kilometres south of the capital Khartoum. The annual locust swarm has been particularly ferocious in 2003 and experts believe it has triggered an allergic reaction in the local population, aggravating asthma.” —New Scientist