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Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/nvir...urabaya-sets-off-itchy-rash-of-insects/506160
Development In Surabaya Sets Off Itchy Rash of Insects
Dessy Sagita, Amir Tejo & Vento Saudale | March 21, 2012
Health officials are calling for calm following an outbreak of skin rashes and irritations across Surabaya linked to bugs driven out of their natural habitats by property developers.
The local agriculture agency said on Tuesday that 12 of the city?s 31 districts had reported cases of skin irritations resulting from fluid secretions from the rove beetle, known locally as the tomcat bug...
...Tjandra Yoga Aditama, the Health Ministry?s director general for disease control and environmental health, said the beetles did not bite, but rather secreted a poisonous fluid.
?If you find one of these insects, don?t crush it because then the poison could come into contact with your skin,? he said...
...The fluid it excretes contains paederin, which can cause dermatitis or blisters 24 to 48 hours after contact with the skin.
?The blisters can be infectious through towels, clothes or other things that come in contact with the paederin,? Tjandra said.
He added at least 48 residents had so far sought treatment at local clinics for skin irritation caused by the rove beetle...
Development In Surabaya Sets Off Itchy Rash of Insects
Dessy Sagita, Amir Tejo & Vento Saudale | March 21, 2012
Health officials are calling for calm following an outbreak of skin rashes and irritations across Surabaya linked to bugs driven out of their natural habitats by property developers.
The local agriculture agency said on Tuesday that 12 of the city?s 31 districts had reported cases of skin irritations resulting from fluid secretions from the rove beetle, known locally as the tomcat bug...
...Tjandra Yoga Aditama, the Health Ministry?s director general for disease control and environmental health, said the beetles did not bite, but rather secreted a poisonous fluid.
?If you find one of these insects, don?t crush it because then the poison could come into contact with your skin,? he said...
...The fluid it excretes contains paederin, which can cause dermatitis or blisters 24 to 48 hours after contact with the skin.
?The blisters can be infectious through towels, clothes or other things that come in contact with the paederin,? Tjandra said.
He added at least 48 residents had so far sought treatment at local clinics for skin irritation caused by the rove beetle...