{"id":45469,"date":"2026-06-18T15:26:49","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T13:26:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/?p=45469"},"modified":"2026-06-18T15:26:49","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T13:26:49","slug":"caterpillar-outbreak-sparks-concerns-over-crops-destruction-in-nbgs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/18\/caterpillar-outbreak-sparks-concerns-over-crops-destruction-in-nbgs\/","title":{"rendered":"Caterpillar outbreak sparks concerns over crops destruction in NBGs"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Hou Akot Hou<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

An outbreak of large caterpillars across most parts of Northern Bahr el Ghazal State has raised alarm among residents and local authorities, with fears that the infestation could threaten both public health and agricultural production.<\/p>\n

The state’s Minister of Agriculture, Garang Chan Atak, told this publication on Tuesday evening that farmers have reported increasing cases of severe skin irritation after coming into contact with the caterpillars while working in their fields.<\/p>\n

According to the minister, the outbreak has spread widely across the state, affecting nearly every county and disrupting farming activities during the critical weeding season.<\/p>\n

“We have been receiving reports of farmers being seriously affected by the caterpillar outbreak in many farms and communities across Northern Bahr el Ghazal. No county appears to be safe, and we have also received unconfirmed reports of deaths linked to the infestation,” Atak said.<\/p>\n

He added that authorities are also concerned about the potential impact on crops, warning that the caterpillars could cause damage similar to previous armyworm invasions that devastated harvests in the state.<\/p>\n

“The reason we are worried is that farmers are being disturbed while working, and there are fears that crops may also be destroyed if the outbreak is not controlled,” he explained.<\/p>\n

Atak further revealed that preliminary reports from Aweil East County indicate that a woman and one of her young children may have died after suffering severe skin reactions believed to have been caused by contact with the caterpillars.<\/p>\n

However, he stressed that the reports have not yet been officially confirmed.<\/p>\n

“It remains to be confirmed whether the reports we have been hearing are true\u2014that a woman and her young child died as a result of the caterpillar’s poisonous effects,” he said.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Northern Bahr el Ghazal State Health Education Focal Point Luka Lual Aleu Jok said health facilities have recorded increasing numbers of patients suffering from intense itching and skin rashes associated with the outbreak.<\/p>\n

“We have been receiving many people with severe rashes, and the itching is intense. We are consulting our partners to determine the most appropriate medical response because there is no confirmed treatment yet,” Jok said on Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n

The Ministry of Agriculture, working alongside the State Ministry of Health and development partners in the agriculture and food security sectors, has begun collecting caterpillar samples for laboratory analysis. Officials hope the tests will help identify the species and guide appropriate control measures.<\/p>\n

Authorities say urgent intervention is needed to prevent further harm to communities and safeguard crops, as concerns continue to grow over the spread of the infestation.<\/p>\n

For now, many residents are hoping that the onset of heavier rains will naturally reduce the caterpillar population. However, communities across the state continue to report persistent itching and discomfort, underscoring the need for swift scientific and public health intervention.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Hou Akot Hou An outbreak of large caterpillars across most parts of Northern Bahr el Ghazal State has raised alarm among residents and local authorities, with fears that the infestation could threaten both public health and agricultural production. The state’s Minister of Agriculture, Garang Chan Atak, told this publication[Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":45470,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[158,156,119,80,79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agriculture","category-farming","category-health-2","category-national","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Caterpillar.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45469"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45469\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45471,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45469\/revisions\/45471"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}