Deadly Spider Alert Sets Chiang Mai Media a Buzz

Brown recluse spiders like to build webs in low areas, such as under chairs or tables

 

CHIANG MAI – City News in Chiang Mai has reported that a deadly brown recluse spider native to the United States has been discovered in the city, causing a social media buzz following  the announcement.

The announcement was made by the Fifth Special Force Regiment, and comes hot on the heels of another incident involving a man from Phrae who was bitten earlier this month.

Uthai Viengkam, 46, was bitten multiple times on his leg and foot while in bed at home on July 8. While his condition is now stable, doctors say they may have to amputate his leg. He has also suffered kidney failure and struggles to breathe.

Brown recluse spiders like to build webs in low areas, such as under chairs or tables. They are not native to Thailand and it is believed that they may have arrived with imported goods from the United States.

“This is the first official report of a brown recluse spider bite in Thailand,” Dr Thanjira Jiranantakan, a toxicologist at Siriraj Hospital who has analysed the spiders collected from Uthai’s home, was quoted as saying by the Bangkok Post.

She added that Uthai’s bites were infected by bacteria, causing a blood infection and low platelet count, and that the case is extreme since most bites do not cause such a strong reaction.

The Fifth Special Force Regiment is asking the public to be on high alert.

Brown Recluse Spider Bite Overview

Most spiders are absolutely harmless to humans. In fact, of the over 20,000 different species of spiders that inhabit the Americas, only 60 are capable of biting humans. Within that small group, only four are known to be dangerous to humans: the brown recluse, the black widow, the hobo or aggressive house spider, and the yellow sac spider. Within this select group, only the brown recluse and the black widow spider have ever been associated with significant disease and very rare reports of death.

• Deaths from brown recluse spiders have been reported only in children younger than seven years. Brown recluse spiders are native to the Midwestern and Southeastern states. Documented populations of brown recluse spiders outside these areas are extremely rare. In recent years controversy has arisen over the appearance of brown recluse spiders in California and Florida. At this time most experts agree that the brown recluse is not endemic to these areas. With increasing travel, individual spiders and spider bites can be found in areas where the spider is not endemic, and health care practitioners should consider this when treating suspected bites.
• Fewer than 10 individual spiders have ever been collected outside of these native states. Most false sightings are due to confusion with one of the 13 other species found in the same family.
• The most common non-brown recluse spiders are the desert recluse found in Texas, Arizona, and California, and the Arizona recluse. No deaths have ever been reported from non-brown recluse spiders. Bites from these cousins produce mild to moderate local skin disease.

Features: Brown recluse spiders are notable for their characteristic violin pattern on the back of the cephalothorax, the body part to which the legs attach. The violin pattern is seen with the base of the violin at the head of the spider and the neck of the violin pointing to the rear. These small non-hairy spiders are yellowish-tan to dark brown in color with darker legs. They have legs about one inch in length. The name of the genus, Loxosceles, means six eyes. Most other spiders have eight eyes. Yet this unique feature of the brown recluse is lost on the casual observer because the eyes are too small to be seen with the naked eye.

Habits: These spiders are not aggressive and bite only when threatened, usually when pressed up against the victim’s skin. They seek out dark, warm, dry environments such as attics, closets, porches, barns, basements, woodpiles, and old tires. Its small, haphazard web, found mostly in corners and crevices, is not used to capture prey. Most bites occur in the summer months.