Killer Caterpillars Return To Southern Brazil
1/5/96
OVERVIEW, SOURCE & COMMENTARY by EE
Public health officials in the Brazil state of Santa Catarina
are warning residents of a venomous caterpillar that can cause
illness or even death if touched. The caterpillars are moving into
urban areas from their usual rural habitat because their natural
predators, including rats and birds, have been killed off by toxic
fertilizers used in the area. g.b.
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Headline: Killer Caterpillars Return To Southern Brazil
Source: Reuters
Date: 1/5/96
SAO PAULO (Reuter) - Deadly caterpillars are spreading fear
in southern Brazil, where 20 people have been taken to hospital
recently after touching the lethal insects, authorities said
Friday.
"We are using radio, television and local newspapers to
inform people how to avoid contact with these animals," said
Celso Bernardon, a public health official in Brazil's southern
state of Santa Catarina.
The caterpillars, which secrete a potent venom through their
skin, have killed nine people over the past two years, Bernardon
told Reuters in a telephone interview.
Contact with the venom causes a burning sensation and
spotting on the skin. If left untreated, it can lead to high
fever, bleeding from the nose and ears, kidney failure and
death, said Luis Dalla Costa, a doctor in the Santa Catarina
city of Chapeco.
Since December, 20 people have been treated in hospital
after contact with the insects, Costa said.
In most cases, unsuspecting victims grab a tree trunk or
another object where the caterpillar rests. But authorities are
concerned that children, attracted by the greenish worm-like
creature, might become curious and want to feel it.
Once just a rural phenomenon, the caterpillars this year are
migrating into urban centers, turning up on porches and in the
fruit trees of suburban gardens.
A child was taken to hospital last week after touching one
of the pests in a municipal park.
"Their population is growing out of control because rats,
birds and other predators have been dying off from toxic
fertilizers used in the area," Bernardon said.
The insect grows to a length of about two inches. It appears
in the southern states of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul
every year from December to March.
The insects become harmless after they turn into
butterflies, Bernardon said.
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