A 48-year-old Greek man, who was on holiday in the coastal town of Katakolo in the Peloponnese, was bitten by a brown recluse spider earlier in August.

In Latin, the spider is called Loxoceles reclusa.

The brown recluse, or violin spider, is ranked as one of the most venomous spiders in the world. It contains a necrotic venom that breaks down tissue.

If a human is bitten, the consequences can be anything from mild itching to necrotic wounds that are difficult to heal.

Necrosis is the death of local cells and tissues. It results from conditions that destroy the local environment of the cells, such as reduced or interrupted blood flow, extreme temperatures such as burns or freezing, poisoning, immune reactions, or some types of infection. The Great Norwegian Encyclopedia.

straight to the hospital

According to the Greek news website Stars The man, whose name has not been released, likely did not notice he had been bitten.

The person is said to have felt sudden, unbearable pain in his leg, and therefore called a doctor.

Maybe the reason behind the deaths of tourists

The 48-year-old man was immediately taken to the hospital, where his condition quickly deteriorated. Everything indicated that the man had been bitten by a brown recluse.

In November 2021, a venomous Chilean spider (Loxosceles laeta) was discovered at a school in Sandviken, Sweden. The discovery led to the school being closed and all students having to return home.

– The bite of this spider usually doesn't hurt much, but the venom it carries is similar to flesh-eating bacteria, which can give a very unpleasant result. There have also been cases where Loxosceles bites have led to death, but this is very unusual, as zoologist Peter Jordan told Dagbladet in 2022.

– Rapid deterioration

Doctors fought to keep him alive, the Grace Star writes. A hospital statement reads:

“Unfortunately, despite the heroic efforts of our staff, the patient lost his life. It was clearly a bite from a brown recluse, with a venom for which there is no antidote. The picture of the disease is rapidly evolving. Seventy-two hours after the bite, the condition deteriorated rapidly. We were shocked,” Angeliki Sarantopoulou, director of the surgery department at Piraeus Hospital, told the Greek newspaper.

Solve the puzzle after 1000 years

The man, from the town of Fthiotida on the Greek mainland, was likely bitten while sitting on a bench in the coastal town of Katakolo.

Danish site Reptiles The brown recluse is a small spider, only seven millimeters long. It has a light brown or yellow body, with a dark violin-shaped pattern on the front of the body. It is most common in the southern United States and South America.