Although a school of ants is commonly perceived as a mere nuisance rather than a threat, the untimely death of an unfortunate woman was caused by a group of fire ants.
A Central Georgia woman tragically died over the weekend from a severe allergic reaction after accidentally stepping on a mound of fire ants in her residence, her family said .
From USA Today:
Chad Johnson, an investigator with the coroner’s office, told USA TODAY that the office performed an autopsy Monday.
His cause of death and manner of death, Johnson said, are pending.
USA TODAY could not immediately reach Weed’s family, but loved ones told local station WSB that he died at his home in Lawrenceville, about 30 miles northeast of downtown Atlanta.
According to his family, Weed, who is survived by a teenage son, had a severe allergic reaction to fire ants and died before he could receive his medicine.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, fire ants latch onto their victims with strong jaws and repeatedly inject venom into a human with their stingers. Symptoms of the bite include burning, itching and rashes.
Fire ants are usually found in the southern region of the US and in places as far north as Tennessee, said Wizzie Brown, a pest management specialist at Texas A&M University. Although they are a year-round species, they tend to be more common in spring and fall.
Well, this incident has certainly awakened a new fear in me.
I mean, who really knows if they’re allergic to a bug bite until it actually happens, right?
So I personally will be avoiding fire ants for the foreseeable future.
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