Another Recluse Spider Bite Diagnosed at Mather

Newsday ^

[per loin]

By Indrani Sen STAFF WRITER July 4, 2002 Another brown recluse spider bite was diagnosed Tuesday in the John T. Mather Memorial Hospital emergency room, a spokeswoman said yesterday. This is the sixth patient diagnosed with recluse spider bites at Mather since mid-May. Entomologists have questioned whether the wounds are brown recluse spider bites, saying the species does not live on Long Island. ...

[per loin]

That's six at that one hospital. At three, they were calling it a statistical near-impossibility.

[per loin]

You two might find this of interest.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Spiders hitchhike on shipments. Probably some spider infested warehouse.

[per loin]

On the odd chance that I'm not the only one following this anomaly, here's last night's thread on the topic.

[per loin]

Possible, but doubtful. The brown recluse is not an aggressive spider, thus the statistical improbability of even a single case of biting unless there are significant numbers of the spiders around. We now have six diagnosed at the one hospital, and others at different locations on Long Island.

[Mitchell]

Ping. A follow-up to the first strange story on these spider bites.

[per loin]

Authorities keep secrets for reasons, but what possible reason would the Public Health authorities have for refusing to divulge the location(s) where the other victims are from?

And ought we attach any significance to one victim being a worker at the hospital, itself? Mere coincidence? Or might we be seeing something contagious?

[RandallFlagg]

Great! Just in time for Eight Legged Freaks

[per loin]

Your're right. Hollywood will do anything to promote a movie. Remember Three Mile Island?

[Quilla]

Naw, you're not alone on this one. Notice, not one word about the possibility that this is anthrax. I wonder what became of the tests for anthrax mentioned in the article you recently posted? Thanks for the post.

[Cachelot]

We now have six diagnosed at the one hospital, and others at different locations on Long Island.

How many others, and where? Anything outside of Long Island?

[Physicist]

Anything outside of Long Island?

Yes, there was a case in Philadelphia. Moreover, the bite victim caught another one alive in his basement...a very young one.

[RnMomof7]

FYI

[Sweet_Sunflower29]

This is the sixth patient diagnosed with recluse spider bites...

This is a story I'm following with increasing interest...

I'm sure that the "bites" all grouped together in one localle not typically known for this species of spider is nothing more then an isolated incident

Well, 6 of them...

[Cachelot]

Yes, there was a case in Philadelphia. Moreover, the bite victim caught another one alive in his basement...a very young one.

That sounds more normal. Perhaps it's time popping the question that's been in my head for a few months: What happened to Darwin Vest??

[Sweet_Sunflower29]

http://www.canoe.ca/CNEWSScience0003/12_spider2.html


Darwin Vest, a top authority on hobo spiders, vanished without a trace nine months ago in Idaho. Vest, 48, disappeared June 3. Police are investigating and suspect foul play.

Just days before his disappearance, Vest notified his sister, Rebecca, that an Oregon business was interested in selling the hobo spider trap kits he invented.
The hobo spider had special meaning for Vest and his sister: She named the spider, whose bite was thought for years to be that of a brown recluse.

Vest was an expert on spider, snake and plant poisons.
The self-taught scientist and owner of Eagle Rock Research in Idaho Falls, Idaho, testified in court cases across the country about poisonous bites, lectured and wrote on the subject and was featured on the Discovery Channel. Vest also had colleagues in Edmonton.
"He was a really nice guy,'' says Robin Leech, a local arachnid expert who met Vest at several scientific conferences and regularly corresponded with the American about spider bites. "His activities took him everywhere.

"He did covert stuff with the CIA and the FBI,'' says Leech. "It's funny how when you get into something like venom, all kinds of peculiar things come out of the carpet.''
Vest collected spiders and milked them for their venom. The process involved Scotch-taping an anesthetized arachnid to a board, delivering a shock and using a pipette to pick up a bead of venom.

He apparently vanished as he was walking back to his house near the Snake River. He had played his weekly trivia game with friends at a bar.

The dark-haired, bearded man was known for taking night walks.

Now, I'm the first to acknowldge, especially given the date of this report, the probability of this also being a 'random occurance'...

But goodness...

Quick question...How do I make sure I know when this receives' more responses so I can follow this thread?

:*)

[Physicist]

That sounds more normal.

No, they're not native here, either.

[hellinahandcart]

This is the sixth patient diagnosed with recluse spider bites at Mather since mid-May. Entomologists have questioned whether the wounds are brown recluse spider bites, saying the species does not live on Long Island.

I'll cut to the chase for the entomologists: apparently they do now.

These things hitchhike, or people who live outside the spider's "natural habitat" would never be bitten (and I personally know someone who was bitten way, way outside of brown recluse territory). Hardly anyone ever catches the spider responsible for biting them. They wake up with a huge swollen bite and don't look that they need to look for a spider that could almost dance on the head of a pin. What's to prevent a pregnant female spider from laying her eggs at her new destination, and what's to prevent her descendants from doing the same?

I do not ever recall hearing that skin anthrax was misdiagnosed as brown recluse spider bites as opposed to simply "spider bites". Recluse bites are spectacularly gaudy and don't look a bit like anthrax.

Is it possible that some demented amateur entomologist on Long Island raised bushels of these spiders in his basement and let them loose? I suppose. But as terrorism it's remarkably ineffective. No one has died.

[Cachelot]

No, they're not native here, either.

What I meant was, only one case, and a spider was found.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

How do I make sure I know when this receives' more responses so I can follow this thread?

Go to the top of the thread and click on the blue "Bookmark Discussion" and keep checking back. When it's bookmarked, it will place the topic on your profile page.

Or, keep checking your "My Comments" area.