The city of Aswan, on Egypt, have recently experienced abnormal storms, triggers of two unpleasant surprises. On the one hand, its citizens, as well as the residents of some neighboring villages and towns, have suffered the powerful floods caused by rains. It is something very rare, taking into account that in this area of the planet no more than 10 millimeters of rain usually falls a year. But on the other hand, they have experienced something even more terrifying. A plague of scorpions which has already caused hundreds of bites and at least three dead.
The reason is that, accustomed to nesting in extremely dry placesThey have seen how the water took hold of them. And, as a consequence, they have had no choice but to go out in search of higher places; as, for example, houses.
This clash has resulted in more than 400 bites with serious resultsIt is a very poisonous species of scorpion. Fortunately, there is a antidote, but hospital saturation and weather conditions are not helping.
It is not a biblical plague or a weekend tabletop movie. It is simply an example that disasters of 2020 and 2021 they do not stop and this time it has been the turn of this part of the world.
Terrible consequences after the Aswan storms
They say that after the storm comes calm. But the truth is that the situation after the Aswan storms is anything but calm.
Almost 500 people have been treated for scorpions of the species Androctonus crassicauda, better known as fat-tailed arabian scorpion. It is common in North Africa and the Middle East, where you live in deserted zones. That is why the floods resulting from the storms led them to flee in search of a new home.
They are very poisonous, because their poison, loaded with neurotoxins and cardiotoxins, can cause pain, swelling, heart and breathing problems, internal bleeding, visual impairment and, in the worst case, the death. This can occur if the patient has previous pathologies or if it is not treated quickly. There is antidote, but the poison is fast-acting, so it should be administered as soon as possible, in less than an hour.
The scorpions that lived a war
These scorpions were part of a well-known chapter in history: the Persian Gulf War.
This conflict, which pitted 34 countries led by the United States against the Iraqi republic between 1990 and 1991, was unleashed in a rather hostile place. Therefore, the soldiers did not face only the wounds caused by the weapons. They also had to deal with diseases like malaria, with the consequences of inhaling the desert dust and with the bites of some animals, especially snakes and scorpions. And it was precisely this species of scorpions that caused the most damage. This is so because, in addition to being directly in the desert, they usually nest in neglected building ruinsSo the scene of a war was almost an amusement park to them.
Now, it has been a new catastrophe in Egypt that has once again made them a serious danger to humans. But a catastrophe as natural as storms, possibly influenced by climate change.
Transfer of doctors
The high concentration of cases of scorpion stings after the storms has caused some hospital saturation in this city of Egypt.
Therefore, according to the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health in Aswan, Ehab Hanafy, to the news medium Al-ahram, it has been necessary to transfer health workers from the COVID-19 units to treat patients affected by this problem.
In addition, it has been necessary to gather a large amount of antidote dose, both in Aswan hospitals and in nearby villages and towns.
Meanwhile, what happened in Egypt serves as an example of the havoc that the climate change. And it is that this can be the force that pushes the first of a long row of dominoes, each one more unpleasant. That is why it is necessary to act on time. There is nothing you can do with those that are already falling. But at least, we can try to cut the chain.