Termites cause massive amounts of destruction in the United States, as any American well knows. However, relatively speaking, America is home to a small amount of termite species. Termites are far more abundant on the continents of Asia and Africa. Africa is currently home to the greatest amount of termites when compared to all other continents. This is not so surprising considering the current termite troubles that many residents of several Egyptian cities are now experiencing. Two cities in particular are seeing termite-damaged houses that are near collapse. In the cities of Luxor and Aswan, termite invasions are endangering many families as the result of a large scale termite invasion. According to Abdel Wahab Fakhry, a Nubian resident, the invading termites are successfully bringing down houses because many of them are built with dead plant matter, such as palm trunks and leaves. Since these homes are created with cellulose-rich materials, they make for easy targets for cellulose-hungry termites. Although the destruction caused by termites in many Egyptian cities has reached a new high, termite-related problems have been occurring in Egyptian cities for years now.
For years termites have been eating everything available to them in Egypt’s largest cities including ceramics and entire housing floors. However, the amount of termite destruction in Egypt has skyrocketed recently as a result of the suspension of government ministries in the country, most importantly the Ministry of Agriculture. The Ministry of Agriculture is tasked with eradicating country wide termite infestations with pesticides, but many residents believe these pesticides are too weak. A lack of eradication campaigns has caused many homes to lose their roofs to termites, and termites are even destroying people’s kitchen wear and furniture items. Luckily, Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly has recently ordered the Agricultural Ministry and the Governor of Luxor to eradicate termites from the city and nearby areas. So far, this eradication campaign has been a success, as 40 houses in Arment, 9 houses in Esna, 10 houses in al-Toud center and 6 houses in al-Qurna have been treated for termite infestations.
Do you believe that the region’s high heat is the reason for the recent termite infestations?
