Study rules out spiders as common cause of bacterial infections in humans
Tuesday, January 6, 2015 - 18:40
in Biology & Nature
Can spiders be carriers of human pathogens? Can they provoke infection through a break in the skin? A team of scientists has data-mined the history of publications on spider envenomations to conclude that the evidence for spider-vectored infection is scanty. Although spider bite may be an attractive and tenable causative agent of a bacterial infection, the data show this is highly improbable, says the study's lead author.