White tail spider attack causes years of pain

A Mount Maunganui man is still suffering the painful effects of being bitten by a white-tail spider six years ago, as more people speak out about spider bites in the wake of warnings the redback spider could be lurking in Tauranga.
Electrician Simon Ellingham was working under a house in 2004 when he was bitten on each of his legs. He woke up the next morning and found his legs bright red, "like a fire engine".
Doctors diagnosed white-tail bites and Mr Ellingham was rushed off to Tauranga Hospital, operated on and given heavy medication. The diagnosis was later confirmed when Mr Ellingham went back under the house and discovered a white-tail spider nest.
Mr Ellingham contracted a staphylococcus aureus infection. Six years later, he still suffers painful outbreaks on his skin from the bacteria that refuses to leave his system.
"I end up having lots and lots of pimples in random places.
"They can end up being small dots to enormous boil-type lumps that need to be squeezed or lanced."
Mr Ellingham has no control over their outbreaks, despite changes to diet and lifestyle.
"Nothing changes it. I could have nothing for weeks, then get a whole run of them. It's a horrible thing to have. I have been to numerous specialists and numerous doctors."
His comments come in light of warnings this week that the redback spider could be lurking in Tauranga and the story of Nicola Finlay - who is still recovering from a white-tail spider bite at Labour Weekend.
In another similar story, Papamoa mother Sarah Sukker is still getting over her third and most painful white-tail bite in two years.
Ms Sukker said she was bitten by a white-tail on her chin two weeks ago.
She could not talk and needed intravenous antibiotics.
"If a kid had that on their face, oh my God, I can't imagine how bad that would be. You can't take anything for the pain. It's horrific," she said.
International entomologist Ruud Kleinpaste said, contrary to popular belief, white-tail spiders were not venomous in any way. Infections like Mr Ellingham's, Mrs Finlay's and Ms Sukkers' came from bacteria the spiders carried. Mr Kleinpaste is in Tauranga this weekend as a speaker at this year's Garden and Artfest.
He said white-tails often set up home in people's weatherboards, cracks in brick walls, under the eaves or in the corners of a person's house because their favourite food was the common black cobweb "house" spider.
While Mr Ellingham suggested people fumigate if they wanted to get rid of whitetail spiders, while Mr Kleinpaste said using a glass jar with a piece of cardboard could also work.
If anyone experienced a whitetail spider bite, they should try to capture the spider and take both themselves and the insect to the doctor.
A Bay of Plenty District Health Board spokeswoman said nurses saw many patients suffering from spider bites but only a few were from white-tail spiders. People tended to assume any bite was from a white-tail spider, she said.
WHITE-TAIL SPIDERS
Are dark grey, about 12-17mm long and readily recognised by their elongated body form and a distinctive white patch on the end of the abdomen.
White-tail spiders are not venomous but can carry highly infectious bacteria.
The Ministry of Health is yet to confirm a single white-tail bite in New Zealand, because bitten people do not take the spiders with them to the doctor.
- Source: Ruud Kleinpaste and landcareresearch.co.nz