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A production worker on Alec Baldwin’s tragedy-marred flick “Rust” was bitten by a poisonous spider while helping to close down the set after its fatal accidental shooting — and may now lose his arm. Lamp operator and pipe rigger Jason Miller was bitten by a venomous brown recluse while helping wrap up film production after Baldwin shot and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on Oct. 21, Sky News said. A JustGiving fundraising page said Miller has experienced necrosis of his arm and sepsis as a result of the bite. “He has been hospitalized and endured multiple surgeries each day as doctors...

Doctors in Kansas City, Missouri, pulled a venomous brown recluse spider out of Torres' ear, and somehow, she kept her cool. But she's never sleeping without earplugs again. She woke up Wednesday morning with popping and swishing sounds in her ear. She decided to check it out after work, though she didn't think much of it at first, she said. A medical assistant examined Torres' ear, then ran out of the room to grab more sets of eyes. Soon, two nurses, three medical students and a doctor joined the assistant in the tiny exam room to break the news--a spider...

Spiders are the most feared pest, although people increasingly have phobias about hornets, rats and wasps, a new study has revealed. Spiders topped a "fear index", with two-thirds of those questioned saying they were spooked by them, a survey of 2,000 adults by home emergency firm HomeServe found. Hornets and rats were closely behind, with foxes sneaking into the top 10 ahead of mice, fleas, slugs and snails, while moths, flies and ants were the least feared.

ScienceDaily (Apr. 23, 2011) — One of the most feared spiders in North America is the subject a new study that aims to predict its distribution and how that distribution may be affected by climate changes. When provoked, the spider, commonly known as the brown recluse (Loxosceles reclusa), injects powerful venom that can kill the tissues at the site of the bite. This can lead to a painful deep sore and occasional scarring.

PAULDING COUNTY, Ga. -- A Paulding County woman is recovering from major surgery after being bitten by a brown recluse spider at her home. “I would have never known in a million years that a spider could ever do this much damage,” said Victoria Franklin. Franklin was at WellStar Windy Hill Hospital Friday morning, recovering from an April mastectomy. “I didn’t flip out over that. I was glad to be alive,” she said of her surgery. She found out she lost her left breast when the hospital staff told her after she woke up from an 11-day coma. “She said,...

Arachnophobia has gripped southeastern France after a pensioner suffered a near-lethal bite from a rare spider whose venom is said to be "as dangerous as a cobra's". François Inderchit, 59, was settling down for his afternoon siesta earlier this month in Orange, in Vaucluse, and was bitten by something "a bit more violent than a mosquito" when he turned over in bed. He saw that it was a spider and that he had killed it. Within 24 hours, a gaping, gangrenous wound six inches long, three inches wide and half an inch deep developed around the bite area on Mr...

I share a duplex house with two other people. My room is the basement, while the other two live in rooms on the second floor. We share the living room, dining room, and kitchen on the first floor. Our house is just outside the DC Beltway in northern Virginia, south of Alexandria. On Sunday, one of my roommates was apparently bitten by a brown recluse spider. She didn't get it looked at immediately, since she thought it was just a really bad pimple. By yesterday, however, it was quite apparent that something was wrong. She went to a doctor, and...

My roomate brought in the plants and trees from our patios last Tuesday. That night his leg started to itch. By Thursday it was swollen. This was tonight. He's gone to the doctor but all the doc can do is give him antibiotics. Spray your plants before you bring them in. I emptied a can of Raid on all of them last night. Background: In the United States, reports of severe envenomations by brown spiders began to appear in the late 1800s, and today, in endemic areas, brown spiders continue to be of significant clinical concern. Of the 13 species...

Fox news alert. Shep Smith mentioned a woman is being tested after skin lesions resembling anthrax appeared on her body after visiting a pond in the same area of the one previously drained.

This is a semi-vanity post - but others should learn about this nasty little spider and the damage it can do. This is my 3rd day into my second Brown Recluse Spider bite that I have had in the past 3 years. The first one took over 6 months to heal and left a 3/4" diameter crater in the back of my neck at my hairline. I was bitten again 3 days ago, at least that is when I notice a pin head size bump on my right forearm and thought it was just a mosquito bite. Today is...

SANTA MARIA, Calif. (Reuters) - Superstar Michael Jackson turned up on crutches in a California courtroom on Tuesday after a close encounter with a spider. Jackson, whose bizarre appearance and baby-dangling antics have made headlines around the world for the past three weeks, was resuming testimony in a $21 million lawsuit over canceled millennium concerts. But it was the self-styled King of Pop himself, dressed up in a white satin vest and tie, who again provided most of the drama. Explaining the crutches and the white athletic sock he was wearing on one foot, Jackson told reporters; "It is a...