Aug 26, 2013 11:23 AM EDT By Staff Reporter, UniversityHerald Reporter

A Dafeng farmer in the eastern province of Jiangsu, China, suffered hundreds of thousands of dollars loss after about one million cockroaches reportedly escaped from his farm where they were being cultivated for use in traditional medicine. They reportedly were accidentally released and fled to neighboring fields.

Disease control authorities have been called in and five investigators are looking into methods to kill these insects.

The cockroaches ran into nearby cornfields earlier this month after an 'unknown perpetrator' destroyed the plastic greenhouse where they were being cultured.

Wang Pengsheng, the farm owner said that he had invested more than $16,000 in 102 kilograms of Periplaneta americana eggs and when the greenhouse was damaged, more than 1.5 million cockroaches had already been hatched after being fed food including 'fruits and biscuits' every day.

Pengsheng expected to earn around $160 profit per kilogram of cockroaches sold.

Jiangsu Board of Health officials have executed an extensive disinfection in the area to keep the pests under control. Although the process is claimed to kill majority of the cockroaches, local residents were warned about the roaches.

Even though cockroaches are generally treated as an annoyance, traditional Chinese medicine believes that its extracts can cure diseases, reduce inflammation and improve immunity.

China was one of the first countries to have a medical culture. It's broad range of ancient medicine practices are based on a tradition of more than 5,000 years and include various forms of herbal medicine, acupuncture, massage (Tui na), exercise (qigong), and dietary therapy 

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