Redback Spiders Invade Japan

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World

Wednesday, 25 November 2009 10:54

Fears are spreading in Japan over the possible invasion of Australias potentially deadly redback spider to its shores. The arachnids, which have a potentially deadly bite, were reported by ABC’s AM program to have come to Japan on a cargo ship, possibly one carrying woodchips.

Japanese paper Asahi.com reported yesterday that government officials fear the spider could be well-established in the Tokai region, which is west of Tokyo.

Japan’s Environment Ministry says redback’s have now been reported in 16 of Japan's 47 prefectures, with 12 people alone in the Osaka region having been bitten.

A 6-year-old boy from Osaka was treated with anti-venom in June, the first ever to be administered anti-venom in Japan after a redback bite.

Former senior researcher at the Osaka Prefectural Institute of Public Health, Masahiro Yoshida, told Asahi.com that local governments needed to address the issue as soon as possible.

"If no steps are taken, people could die from bites. The spiders are spreading all over the country like wildfire via distribution routes." Mr Yoshida said.

But spider expert from the Australian National University, Dr David Rowell, says Japan shouldn’t be alarmed at the outbreak of redbacks.

He said Japan need look no further than Australia to see how people can live in harmony with spiders.

“Australians have learnt to deal with redbacks. I think this is a bit of an overreaction in Japan because they haven’t had these spiders around before.

“The Japanese may need to put simple strategies in place, like the ones we have here, to deal with redbacks,” Dr Rowell said.

Dr Rowell said Japan may just need to accept the spider’s presence there, if they are growing in such proliferation.

“They (redbacks) are hard to get rid once they’ve established themselves,” he said.

 

 

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