Rant: Doc: Hoax Emails

There are two emails about spiders, circulating on the net.

Both contain misinformation.

The first email shows a spider and the supposed effects of its bite.

1/ The spider shown looks to be the Brown Recluse spider. This does not occur in
Australia, but inhabits America.

2/ The wounds shown might result from spider bite, but they also could be the result of
other medical conditions including Necrotizing Fasciitis, caused by a type of streptococcus.

3/ In Australia, the White Tailed spider has come under scrutiny for its possible role in
causing nasty skin lesions, but the jury is still out on that one, because:

(a) Not everyone bitten by the White Tailed spider develops skin lesions.
(b) Not everyone bitten by a spider collects it and has it identified. Even if they did, there is
a scarcity of experts.
(c) The skin is limited in the ways in which it can react to any noxious insult, thus a
reaction to a bite can resemble infection, and vice versa. Even finding a bacteria in a
wound is not proof of cause, since bacteria often colonize wounds that they did not
cause.

The second email claims that Funnel Web spiders are new to Qld. They are not. They
have always been here. Sydney just gets all the glamor. The Qld Funnel Webs are slightly
different from the Sydney ones.

If you want further information, key into Google, either, of the names of the spiders or key
in “Robert Raven” and search pages in Australia.

Or just delete the emails.

They promote arachnophobia, present misinformation, or are just hoaxes.


Ralph Skinner
B :-) doc