Mystery spider bite kills one
2003-08-19 14:45
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Bucharest - One man died and 11 people were sent to hospital after they were bitten by an unidentified type of spider that cropped up on the Romanian seabord during Europe's recent heat wave, a local hospital spokesperson said on Tuesday.
A pensioner, 68, with a heart condition died of complications caused by a spider bite, said the spokesperson for the hospital in Constanta, Romania's major port along the Black Sea.
Most of those taken to hospital after suffering bites these past few weeks were out of danger and have been released, the spokesperson added. He said the bites had triggered headaches, dizziness or muscular spasms.
Medical experts in Constanta are to examine some of the spiders, which first appeared with the scorching temperatures in the area a few weeks ago and are said to look like North and South America's poisonous black widow.
- AFP