Locusts won’t swarm Egypt, but we’re prepared anyway, the Agriculture Ministry says. Agriculture Minister Essam Fayed said the minister has enough stocks of pesticides and trained personnel to handle locust swarms. However, Fayed noted that the event remains unlikely, Al Mal reported. Egypt is not a stranger to locusts, with one particularly bad instance taking place in 2004, which the AP described at the time as: “an echo of the biblical plagues … Clouds of the red insects, up to 2 1/2 inches long, flitted about over Cairo, while others hopped around on rooftops … the swarm was an offshoot of a serious locust infestation in West Africa that was blown by strong winds across the Sahara.”