Bitten By Endangered Species
Posted on 17. May, 2010 by LynThomas in Health
A 22 year old Canadian man suffered heart inflammation after an endangered species, a Katipo spider, bit him on his penis, following a skinny dip, in the far north of New Zealand.
The man left his clothes on a sand dune at the beach, when he went for a swim in the nude. While, he was swimming, the rare katipo spider crawled into his shorts. Returning from his swim, the man put his shorts back on and took a nap. The trapped spider decided took his revenge by nipping the man on his penis.
On waking up, the man found his penis swollen, sore and red, with the spider venom causing him agonizing chest pains, a racing heart and high blood pressure.
“He also suffered muscle pain, fever, headache, light sensitivity and vomiting as a result of the spider bite,” said Dr. Nigel Harrison.
Treatment with Antivenin, an anti-toxin, saw the man’s condition improve rapidly.
He spent 16 days in hospital and is said to be the only known person to develop heart inflammation as a result of a Katipo spider bite.
The small, black and venomous Kapito spiders are native to New Zealand. The female, the most poisonous native animal in New Zealand, has a distinctive red stripe running down her back. Both male and female spider may also have white markings on their back.
They are ground dwellers, living in sand dunes, burrowing under logs and other debris on the beach. Their narrow habitat, along with their rareness, general non-aggression, plus the human awareness of where the Katipo lives, means incidences of katipo bites are very low.
The Katipo, a Maori word meaning ‘night-stinger’ is an endangered species in New Zealand. The pea-sized spiders belong to the worldwide genus Latrodecuts (widow spiders) and are related to the Australian Red Back and American Black Widow. They usually bite humans only in self defense, though two fatalities were recorded in the 1800s
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