WORLD : 30 Killed by Mysterious Insect
A mysterious, diamond-shaped insect whose bite can kill within four hours has claimed the lives of at least 30 people and attacked hundreds of others in the last month, doctors and newspapers said today.
Panic-stricken villagers are destroying the bushy, fast-growing plants that harbor the insects, which have 30 tiny stingers.
This could create more problems because the ipomoea crassicarlis plant’s roots help check soil erosion in frequently flooded Bangladesh. The plant usually grows up to 10 feet high but has no food value.
Dozens of the bugs swarm into each plant.
Doctors at Dhaka Medical College Hospital said survivors have responded to injections of oradixon, followed by three days of antihistamine tablets.
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