Canada - Black flies swarm Labrador woman, causing hundreds of bites, fever

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A female black fly
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_fly

Black flies swarm Labrador woman, causing hundreds of bites, fever

CBC News Posted: Jul 20, 2015 9:40 AM NT Last Updated: Jul 20, 2015 10:33 AM NT
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A woman from the south coast of Labrador is recovering from an infection and still marvelling over a swarm of black flies that descended on her feet while she was gardening.

"I'm so paranoid now, I think I would rather have a bear come to the door," said Elaine Chubbs, adding that in the 13 years she's lived in St. Lewis, she has never seen the black flies as bad as this summer.
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'It's just like somebody took a stamp machine with perhaps 200 needles in it, and just drove it in through my ankles'
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She said in addition to a fever, she's had severe swelling in her feet around the bite marks.
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http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfo...man-causing-hundreds-of-bites-fever-1.3159659

 

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Labrador black fly horror stories: Entomologist weighs in on swarming insects

CBC News Posted: Jul 25, 2015 4:00 PM NT Last Updated: Jul 25, 2015 4:00 PM NT
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Doug Currie, curator of entomology at the Royal Ontario Museum, told CBC's Labrador Morning the swarms were "quite unusual."
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According to Currie, there's good reason why Chubbs may not have noticed she was being bitten.

"Black flies have this other property, where they'll put in an anaesthetic before they bite, so you tend not to feel them, therefore it's quite easy for them to sneak up on you," he said.

"You can accumulate a lot of bites before you realize what's happening."
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"When a black fly bites, once they pierce the skin, it promotes blood flow ? and that's probably why she ended up with a bloody sock," said Currie.

"It will bleed sometimes for hours afterwards and when you receive hundreds of bites, you can actually develop a condition that's called black fly fever, where your glands can become swollen, you have flu-like symptoms. This is exactly what she experienced."
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http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfo...ogist-weighs-in-on-swarming-insects-1.3166848