It all sounded like a scene from a Hollywood horror flick, but as Jintu showed his blackened, swollen finger, to TOI, it became clear that it was not some elaborate hoax created by some mischief-monger, it was something that happened for real. But the panic it triggered could have been certainly avoided had there been enough awareness among laymen and mandarins about arachnids.
Jintu spent a day at the Sadiya Civil Hospital after he complained of excruciating pain and nausea. When he returned home, he had more terrifying stories to tell. Terror was still writ large on his face even two weeks after the incident, but he thanked his stars for being alive. His neighbour,
Purnakanta Buragohain, was not that lucky. He died in the hospital after a spider allegedly bit him.
The events that unfolded in the next few days left everyone baffled. Scores of people arrived in the Sadiya civil hospital with spider bites, some even carrying their tormentors to the hospital. Amid all this, another person, this time a schoolboy, died of an alleged spider bite. And the district administration panicked. They sounded an alert across Tinsukia district and asked people to stay indoors at night-the time the unknown critters would swarm all over the place. They talked about fogging the place with DDT to kill the arachnids but couldn't find any effective solution. What's worse: they even let the two bodies to be cremated without conducting any autopsy. Yet the spider menace continued. None had any answer as to what kind of a spider it was and how it made such a sudden appearance.
Then on May 22, a team of life scientists from Dibrugarh University and Gauhati University arrived in Sadiya. Led by Dr L R Saikia, head, Department of Life Sciences, Dibrugarh University, the team camped in the trouble spot for two days and nights and collected specimens. "As of now, we cannot give a specific name. It's similar to the tarantula, but it could be a whole new species. There aren't any arachnologists in the northeast, so it will take us a while to identify it. But whatever the species, it is a highly aggressive spider. It leaps at anything that comes close. Some of the victims claimed the spider latched onto them after biting. If that is so, it needs to be dealt with carefully. The chelicerae and fangs of this critter are quite powerful; but it's too early to declare it a killer spider. In fact, we are yet to test its venom and find out the toxicity," says Dr Saikia.
"We cannot say for sure that the fatalities were due to the venom; it could have been because of allergic reaction to the venom, which triggered cardiac arrest in both the victims. But 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. Also, we didn't administer any antivenin dose, as we were not sure if the spider was venomous," says Dr Anil Phatowali, superintendent, Sadiya Civil Hospital.
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S & T » ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
GUWAHATI, June 8, 2012No evidence of existence of killer-spiders in Assam,
Even as rumours of spider-bite causing deaths in upper Assam's Tinsukia district spread to different areas of the State, a team of experts has found no evidence of any such fatality.
The experts carried out field studies in two remote villages of Sadiya, where the news of death due to spider-bite originated. They did not find any evidence of swarms of the particular species of spider invading human settlement as reported in a section of media.
Professor and Head of the Department of Life Sciences, Dibrugarh University, L.R. Saikia toldThe Hindu that live specimens of the spider collected from the two villages have been sent to the Indian Society of Arachnology in Maharashtra for conducting scientific studies and for confirmation of identification of the species.
“It is one type of tarantula which is not uncommon in Assam and is locally known as Bhaluki mokora in Assamese. The male spider is black and the female spider is brown,” Dr. Saikia said. The team led by Dr. Saikia also included an expert from Gauhati University.
According to reports in a section of the media, a farmer of Chawalkhowa village Purnokanta Buragohain (52) died on May 9 and a student, Rituraj Gogoi (14) of Chapakhowa village died on May 21, after being bitten by black spiders.
Dr. Saikia said that in both cases no conclusive evidence could be found that they were actually bitten by spiders as no autopsy was conducted. “The family members of the deceased could not confirm that the two were bitten by spiders. In the case of Purnakanta Buragohain, the bite appeared to be that of some animal and his death might have been caused by some kind of allergic reaction. Family members said Purnokanta was bitten by something around 7.30 p.m. on May 8. He returned to the spot with a torchlight and saw one spider. He went to a witchdoctor for treatment and was with him till around 2 p.m. Only after his condition became worse he went to the Sadiya First Referral Unit hospital, where he died on May 9.
“In the case of Rituraj, we found that he had put his hand into a hole in the paddy field when he was looking for mole cricket, a local delicacy, at 4 p.m. on May 21 and collapsed at 5 p.m. He was taken to hospital but doctors declared him brought dead. In this case also no post-mortem was done, hence nothing could be said about the cause of death conclusively. However, despite the absence of medical or circumstantial evidence, rumours were floated that both these deaths were caused by spider-bite.”
The team did not find any evidence of swarms of black spiders attacking the villagers while they were enjoying a bihu function as reported in media, he added.
Eight people with actual spider-bite were seen at the First Referral Unit in Sadiya. “The doctors at the hospital did not give them any antidote as they were not sure if the spiders were venomous. They were given some anti-allergic medicine. In fact, after we talked to them, all the eight left the hospital as they were not feeling any uneasiness then. If the black spiders had been venomous then it would have caused fatality in these eight persons too.”
When contacted, Tinsukia Deputy Commissioner S.S. Meenakshi Sundaram said pamphlets have been distributed with the help of village heads and local NGOs to appeal to the people not to panic and not to believe in rumours. He said spider specimens have also been sent to the Indian Council of Medical Research. There has been no scientific documentation in the country of any spider with enough venom to cause fatality in a large mammal like humans, he added.
Both Dr. Saikia and the DC said that the particular spider species was known to be more aggressive this time of the year as it was breeding time for them.
Keywords: spider-bite, mysterious death
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