Chula Vista

At least two inmates at the South Bay jail in Chula Vista have been rushed to a hospital this month after they were bitten by a highly poisonous spider, a Sheriff’s Department spokesman said Tuesday.

One inmate was treated at an emergency room and the other was hospitalized for a week, after they were bitten by a brown recluse spider, said Sheriff’s Sgt. Jim Cooke. The arachnid, also known as a banjo or violin spider, injects its victims with highly concentrated and potentially lethal venom, Cooke said.

A third inmate may also have suffered from the spider’s bite, but did not require hospitalization, according to Cooke. Sheriff’s deputies searched the jail Monday, but neither they nor the victims themselves were able to catch a glimpse of the spider, Cooke said.

Although all jails are periodically sprayed by exterminators, the South Bay jail will be sprayed again today by workers from the county Deparment of Agriculture, Cooke said. He refused to release the names of the victims, citing the confidentiality of their medical records.