2 people dead after swarms of venomous spiders invade Indian town

[nayaminfenrir]

We have it pretty good in America...

Original Story:

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/06...e-indian-town/

SADIYA, India – A town in India has suddenly been overrun by swarms of venomous spiders, leaving two people dead after being bitten.

It may sound like a B-grade horror movie, but residents of the town of Sadiya, in Assam state, say that on the evening of May 8 as they were celebrating a Hindu festival swarms of spiders suddenly appeared and attacked them, The Times of India reported.

Over the next few days two people -- a man, Purnakanta Buragohain, and an unnamed school boy -- died after being bitten by the spiders. Scores more turned up at the town's hospital with spider bites.

Local resident Jintu Gogoi spent a day in the hospital complaining of excruciating pain and nausea after being bitten. He said weeks later his finger was still blackened and swollen.

District authorities are also panicking -- and they are considering spraying the town with the insecticide DDT.

Locals say the most terrifying aspect is that spiders appear in swarms and their behavior is highly aggressive.

"It leaps at anything that comes close. Some of the victims claimed the spider latched on to them after biting. If that is so, it needs to be dealt with carefully. The chelicerae and fangs of this critter are quite powerful," head of the department of life sciences at Dibrugarh University Dr. L.R. Saikia said.

Teams of Indian arachnid experts have flocked to the town, hoping to identify the species, but so far they have drawn a blank.

They say it could be a tarantula, a black wishbone or even a funnel-web spider -- or it could be a whole new species.

One thing they agree on is that it is not native to the area as there is no record of venomous spiders in Assam. The black wishbone and funnel-web are native to Australia.

Researchers are also still running tests to find out the toxicity of the spiders' venom.

Dr. Anil Phatowali, superintendent of the town's hospital, said they had not administered antivenin as they could not be certain the spider was venomous at all.

He also pointed out other factors may have contributed to the two reported fatalities.

"All the bite patients first went to witch doctors, who cut open their wounds with razors, drained out blood and burnt it. That could have also made them sick," Phatowali said.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/06...#ixzz1wkpJJQGN

[NynJa]

what the fuck, fuck spiders

I'm telling you, insects seem to be hitting some evolutionary stage the past couple years.

[Pirian]

Mass attempt at creating a Spider Man? I don't think we can rule the possibility.

[arus2001]

Kinda confused. People say shit comes out in swarms at night, but none of the researchers there have apparently caught one to identify it one way or the other? Doesn't add up.

[Omniyoji]

... yeah hindu spiderman

[finalwolf]

nature becoming closer to the anime Blue Gender.

[Rhyis.]

If it is a new breed of spider, I imagine they'll want to look into it further. Venom is quickly becoming the new medical wonder. Half the shit doctors are putting into your bodies nowadays is made from venom from various species.

[Sup3rB4d]

"All the bite patients first went to witch doctors, who cut open their wounds with razors, drained out blood and burnt it. That could have also made them sick," Phatowali said.

[Kryssan]

It is weird for spiders to be both aggressive and (somewhat) social. Curious to know whether or not it is a new species or an older species that was merely displaced through some natural event (link to the Aussie story posted earlier). Actually, I'd suggest a strange nature thread but if it only had these sorts of stories in it Ragns would probably revolt.

Edit: hm, seems like some variants of widows have been known to act socially in captivity even though they are a solitary / aggressive breed. Yep, probably some weird natural event like the CO2 pond killer that drove them out like that; some social spiders are known to make exoduses to establish new colonies but never something that would 'take over' a town.

[Rhyis.]

"All the bite patients first went to witch doctors, who cut open their wounds with razors, drained out blood and burnt it. That could have also made them sick," Phatowali said.

Isn't cutting the wound and attempting to suck the toxin out with your mouth the standard old school way of doing things? Why would it make it them sick, other then maybe germs.

[Pirian]

nature becoming closer to the anime Blue Gender.

Hey, we're getting mechs one way or another. I'd prefer it didn't come with giant bugs that eat people, but it's not for me to decide

[arus2001]

Isn't cutting the wound and attempting to suck the toxin out with your mouth the standard old school way of doing things? Why would it make it them sick, other then maybe germs.

Germs would be my leaning, yeah. Doubt witch doctors sterilize their shit, nevermind what could be in their mouths depending on dental care. With enough people doing it, might even be cross-contanimation of blood depending on how conscious of that they even are.

...witch doctors, sheesh.

[Sup3rB4d]

Isn't cutting the wound and attempting to suck the toxin out with your mouth the standard old school way of doing things? Why would it make it them sick, other then maybe germs.

Severe infection? Old school life expectancy used to be 30 because of old school way of life.

[Weederr33]

Fuck that shit! India is off my travel list now

[hey]

Isn't cutting the wound and attempting to suck the toxin out with your mouth the standard old school way of doing things? Why would it make it them sick, other then maybe germs.

Old school medicine is more deadly than the US army. There's a reason homeopathy used to be one of the better treatments.

[Dimmauk]

Blizzard needs to nerf witch doctors using spider pets. This is getting ridiculous!

[Rhyis.]

Germs would be my leaning, yeah. Doubt witch doctors sterilize their shit, nevermind what could be in their mouths depending on dental care. With enough people doing it, might even be cross-contanimation of blood depending on how conscious of that they even are.

...witch doctors, sheesh.

Severe infection? Old school life expectancy used to be 30 because of old school way of life.

Old school medicine is more deadly than the US army. There's a reason homeopathy used to be one of the better treatments.

People have been sucking on cuts since the dawn of time and been fine. We've all done it. You people are talking like he was giving them hemlock for joint pain or some shit. It's saliva in your wound vs having poison coursing through your veins. Anti-venom isn't cheap people.

Just sounded like a stupid statement. They were bit by a spider and then became sick. It's not rocket science what got them that way.

[Skidz]

... yeah hindu spiderman

[BaneTheBrawler]

NUKE IT. NUKE IT FROM ORBIT.

[Kryssan]

People have been sucking on cuts since the dawn of time and been fine. We've all done it. You people are talking like he was giving them hemlock for joint pain or some shit. It's saliva in your wound vs having poison coursing through your veins. Anti-venom isn't cheap people.

Just sounded like a stupid statement. They were bit by a spider and then became sick. It's not rocket science what got them that way.

What is stupid is that people are assuming the sucking out / saliva bit. The article never mentions it. It does however mention that the supposed witch doctors used razors to cut open their wounds, and we are left open with the interpretation that this was not done in a 'clean' fashion. If one were to assume that the deaths were not due to the spider's venom, then biological contamination is more likely the culprit. It could have also been an allergic reaction to the venom rather than the venom itself. Too little details for anything more than open speculation.

Edit: also, in my quest to read other articles for the gleaning of further information, I keep running across the horrible misuse of venomous and poisonous. And no news agency seems to understand or even be aware that the term 'medically significant' exists. The fact that the Fox news article got it right... I'm not sure what to think of that.

Edit the second: Here (link) is the original article from the Indian Times. Includes a picture of the mystery spider. Ragns, you were warned.