ABC radio was just talking about the white-tailed spider, saying that
the infection its bite sometimes causes can best be treated using the
same drug as is used for treating leprosy. (Come to think of it, there
does seem to be more than a passing resemblance between the two.)

A spider expert said that the flesh-eating infection is not unique to
the white-tailed spider and can be caused by other spiders. He said we
shouldn't kill white-tail spiders--they help to keep down the numbers of
red-backs and funnel-webs.
--
John Savage (my news address is not valid for email)

"John Savage" wrote in message
om...
ABC radio was just talking about the white-tailed spider, saying that
the infection its bite sometimes causes can best be treated using the
same drug as is used for treating leprosy. (Come to think of it, there
does seem to be more than a passing resemblance between the two.)

A spider expert said that the flesh-eating infection is not unique to
the white-tailed spider and can be caused by other spiders. He said we
shouldn't kill white-tail spiders--they help to keep down the numbers of
red-backs and funnel-webs.
--
John Savage (my news address is not valid for email)

Must have millions here in Sth Qld. Not a funnel web in sight.

On Feb 11, 1:33 pm, John Savage wrote:
ABC radio was just talking about the white-tailed spider, saying that
the infection its bite sometimes causes can best be treated using the
same drug as is used for treating leprosy. (Come to think of it, there
does seem to be more than a passing resemblance between the two.)

A spider expert said that the flesh-eating infection is not unique to
the white-tailed spider and can be caused by other spiders. He said we
shouldn't kill white-tail spiders--they help to keep down the numbers of
red-backs and funnel-webs.
--
John Savage (my news address is not valid for email)

The latest studies don't show any links between white tail spiders and
necrotising arachnidism. ( http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/
bhcarticles.nsf/pages/White_tailed_spider?OpenDocument )
On the other hand, they don't actually know what causes the problem.
I've seen another hypothesis (can't remember where) that suggested it
might be related to bacteria the spider is carrying. ie: The spider
has 'dirty' fangs, and these cause the infection, rather than the
actual venom. No idea if they ever managed to prove/disprove the
theory though.

Vampyre wrote:
On Feb 11, 1:33 pm, John Savage wrote:
ABC radio was just talking about the white-tailed spider, saying that
the infection its bite sometimes causes can best be treated using the
same drug as is used for treating leprosy. (Come to think of it, there
does seem to be more than a passing resemblance between the two.)

A spider expert said that the flesh-eating infection is not unique to
the white-tailed spider and can be caused by other spiders. He said we
shouldn't kill white-tail spiders--they help to keep down the numbers of
red-backs and funnel-webs.
--
John Savage (my news address is not valid for email)

The latest studies don't show any links between white tail spiders and
necrotising arachnidism. ( http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/
bhcarticles.nsf/pages/White_tailed_spider?OpenDocument )
On the other hand, they don't actually know what causes the problem.
I've seen another hypothesis (can't remember where) that suggested it
might be related to bacteria the spider is carrying. ie: The spider
has 'dirty' fangs, and these cause the infection, rather than the
actual venom. No idea if they ever managed to prove/disprove the
theory though.



Yes it is a problem that while sensationalism of any problems lasts long
after the REAL facts are published. This then gets less publicity.
So we are all misinformed due to this lack of sensationalism of the real
truth.. Look at the problem with eggs and cholesterol. The readers
digest long ago stymied that theory and yet we are still being told to
avoid eggs. We should be told "Get out and exercise to lower
cholesterol, because you body manufactures that stuff itself. It has
nothing to do with eggs...
. I need real scientific proof before changing my mind with this
one....

Jonno wrote:

Yes it is a problem that while sensationalism of any problems lasts long
after the REAL facts are published. This then gets less publicity.
So we are all misinformed due to this lack of sensationalism of the real
truth.. Look at the problem with eggs and cholesterol. The readers
digest long ago stymied that theory and yet we are still being told to
avoid eggs. We should be told "Get out and exercise to lower
cholesterol, because you body manufactures that stuff itself. It has
nothing to do with eggs...

Aaah, more advice from Dieticians?

Think back to the time when they were screaming about bread. What
happened? The incidence of arse-rot (colon cancer took off). Woops,
dietician discovered that we need fibre in our diet and we faced a flood
of "fibre" products.

Naah, I'll pass on any advice from a dietician. They are just
credentialised fad diet composers.

Neither can you trust the CSIRO as they can obviously be brought off as
well to push certain products. e.g. meat.

basically, all you can do is see what we eaten over the centuries and
stick to it.

OTOH, the amount of physical work in our society has plummeted, so you
really do need to ensure you get an adequate physical work-out daily.

I tended to walk to and (occassionally) from work (train journey in
middle) and use bicycle for all the local shopping.

"Vampyre" writes:
I've seen another hypothesis (can't remember where) that suggested it
might be related to bacteria the spider is carrying. ie: The spider
has 'dirty' fangs, and these cause the infection, rather than the
actual venom. No idea if they ever managed to prove/disprove the
theory though.

Sorry, I meant that as implicit in what I wrote -- that the skin-eating
bacteria happens to be on the fangs of various spiders, not any one
particular species. Maybe the white-tail gets the blame a lot because its
habitat preference brings it into contact/conflict with humans more often.
--
John Savage (my news address is not valid for email)

John Savage wrote:
"Vampyre" writes:
I've seen another hypothesis (can't remember where) that suggested it
might be related to bacteria the spider is carrying. ie: The spider
has 'dirty' fangs, and these cause the infection, rather than the
actual venom. No idea if they ever managed to prove/disprove the
theory though.

Sorry, I meant that as implicit in what I wrote -- that the skin-eating
bacteria happens to be on the fangs of various spiders, not any one
particular species. Maybe the white-tail gets the blame a lot because its
habitat preference brings it into contact/conflict with humans more often.
I guess if I were to eat flies which travel from one rotted carcass to
another, the germs could be transferred in any spider in contact with
humans. White tailed do seem to be quite prolific, and its no wonder
that their bites would be the most encountered.
I was writing specifically about what causes these problems. It may be
that these spiders are able to harbour these diseases as a better host
than most.
Who has actually studied them scientifically enough to get real results
on how and why?