Crawling Chaos: Over 1 Million Cockroaches Escaped a Farm in China At least one million cockroaches have fled a farm in China where they were being bred for use in traditional medicine. According to the report, the insects escaped the facility in Dafeng, in the eastern province of Jiangsu, for surrounding cornfields earlier this month after an "unknown perpetrator" destroyed the plastic greenhouse where they were raised. Disease control authorities have sent five investigators to the area to come up with a plan to stamp out the insects. Wang Pengsheng, the farm owner, said he invested more than $16,000 in 102 kilograms of Periplaneta americana eggs after spending six months developing a business plan. The cockroach is generally considered a pest, but believers in traditional Chinese medicine - which uses both plants and animals, including endangered species - say extracts from it can treat diseases including cancer, reduce inflammation and improve immunity. The breeder of insects also told the newsmen that by the time the greenhouse was damaged, more than 1.5 million cockroaches had hatched and were being fed food including "fruits and biscuits" every day. He had expected to make around 1,000 Yuan (N25,800) profit for every kilogram of cockroaches sold, according to the report, but was now facing huge losses.
Posted on: Mon, 26 Aug 2013 12:45:23 +0000
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