Now, according to Dr. Bruce Williams (who is exactly the right person
to know) almost all of the things called "spider bites" on ferrets are
NOT but are instead neoplasia and need to be removed
<http://ferrethealth.org/archive/YG10473>, but now and then an actual
bite does happen, as can bites or stings from other arthropods or from
vertebrates.  I even recall someone who took a ferret to a beach where
the little one was said to have had a bad encounter with a jelly fish.
Remember that a huge number of spiders simply are not large enough to
pierce human skin, let alone tough ferret skin.

Still, it *may* make sense to alert people to the fact that poisonous
Brown Widow spiders have now established themselves in Gulf Coast
Mississippi, and are in Florida.

See:
http://www.healthyms.com/
Click on
News
Open the related article.

Here is the Press Release:
BEGIN QUOTE:
MDH Medical Entomologist Reports New Poisonous Spider Found in
Mississippi October 3, 2006 =97 A new creepy crawly creature is now
calling the Mississippi Gulf Coast home.  The state's Medical
Entomologist says that Mississippians need to know what to do if they
bump into this new spider, cousin to the very well-known Black Widow.

"The tropical 'Brown Widow' spider, new to the State of Mississippi, has
recently been captured in many locations along the Mississippi Gulf
Coast," said Mississippi Department of Health (MDH) Medical Entomologist
Dr. Jerome Goddard.

Dr. Goddard has been receiving many phone calls reporting buildings and
grounds heavily infested with this new type of spider.

"This spider is in the same family as the Black Widow, and is poisonous
to humans," said Dr. Goddard.  "I first heard of a collection of this
spider at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi in early 2005 and figured it
was probably just an isolated incident."

A Brown Widow spider can grow to one-and-a-half inches long.  It is brown
or grayish-brown instead of black and has an orange-to-yellow hourglass
design on its underside, as opposed to the familiar red hourglass design
on the Black Widow.

"That's a dead give-away," said Dr. Goddard.  "When the hourglass design
is yellowish or orange, instead of deep red, you know it is a Brown
Widow."

The good news is that Brown Widows are not as aggressive as Black Widows,
and although some scientific reports claim it is twice as poisonous, Dr.
Goddard doubts that.

"One very good medical review of 45 cases of Black Widow and Brown Widow
bites showed that the symptoms of Brown Widow bites were mild and tended
to be restricted to the bite site and surrounding tissues (not the case
with black widows)," Dr. Goddard said.  "Brown Widows will not attack if
they are not bothered or made to feel threatened."

He added that a Brown Widow will more than likely "play possum" if
confronted by a potential enemy.

"They just ball up and fall to the ground when disturbed," said Dr.
Goddard.

Most spiders in Mississippi are unable to puncture human skin, and if
they do, their venom is not generally harmful to humans.  There are three
main spider species in Mississippi that health officials like Dr. Goddard
worry about -- the Black Widow, Brown Recluse, and now the Brown Widow.

Dr. Goddard has looked into the reports of the newest species of spider,
which now inhabits the Gulf Coast area; he is unaware of the new species
existing anywhere else in Mississippi.

"I've gone down to the Gulf Coast several times and looked for myself,"
said Dr. Goddard.  "They are, indeed, in many places."

"The Brown Widow probably originated in Africa, but has been introduced
into the tropics almost worldwide," said Dr. Goddard.  According to Dr.
Goddard, the spider probably made its way to Mississippi from Florida
through commercial imports of plants, food, building materials, or
furniture, he said.

The scientific name for the Brown Widow is Latrodectus geometricus.
There are about 30 described widow species including Black Widows, Red
Widows, and the Brown Widows -- the Black Widow being the most common
of the widow family in Mississippi.

If bitten by any one of these spiders, seek medical assistance
immediately.  For control of Brown Widows around the home, Dr. Goddard
recommends calling a pest exterminator for a thorough perimeter
treatment.

For more information on public health issues, the public can call the
Mississippi Department of Health at 1-866 HLTHY 4 U (1-866-458-4948)
or visit MDH online at www.HealthyMS.com.

[Posted in FML 5386]