In Lincoln, Nebraska, the brown recluse spider has sent an entire office running as a company found itself forced to find new office space.

According to KETV-7, the Nebraska Vocational Rehabilitation Office has been infested and extermination thus far as resulted in the elimination of literally hundreds of the spiders which are known to have venom equivalent to the bite of the rattlesnake.

The office supervisor said that they had planned to move the offices in the summer but the spiders caused them to expedite their schedule.

At just over an inch long with a quaint, violin pattern on its back, the brown recluse has once again served notice as one of the most feared of all spiders in the United States.

According to the BBC, waitress Maria Moon initially paid the price for complaining about the flea bites inflicted by rat fleas in her workplace. She claims she was fired for having the gall to object to the nasty red bites which were driving her crazy at night with itching and fever as she attempted to sleep.

Recently, a court has found in favor of Ms. Moon, who was originally told she was let go in May of 2008 because of over-staffing concerns.

As the recipient of a small windfall, now Ms. Moon can buy all the flea repellent she could ever want. Hopefully, she won’t have to go through the pain and suffering of flea bites and its attendant health and safety issues again.

According to an article in the Press-Enterprise, the fire ants made their way to North America in the 1930s via cargo ships, which docked in Mobile, Alabama, from South America. By 1998, the fire ants had crossed the country and made a home on the West Coast.

In speaking about the fire ants bites, Les Greenberg, a UC Riverside entomologist told the Press-Enterprise, “If you’re sensitive to the venom of stinging insects, then you have to worry about [fire ants.]”

In fact, there are a small percentage of people who are allergic to fire ant bites according to the article and may suffer from anaphylaxis, also known as anaphylactic shock.

For treatment in milder cases of fire ant bites on humans, Wikipedia notes that a topical steroid cream (hydrocortisone), or one containing aloe vera cream may be appropriate as well as antihistamines.

In certain areas of California, the problem of fire ant infestation has become so severe that counties such as Orange County and parts of Riverside and Los Angeles counties can no longer have soil removed for fear that the fire ant will wreak havoc elsewhere.

Pest control experts are beginning to re-think strategies for controlling the tiny ant. Greenberg said, “Without a statewide (eradication) program, they will continue to spread, that’s for sure.”

How bad is it in some areas? The Cincinnati Health Department received 737 bedbug complaints in 2007.

In Columbus, Ohio, health officials are split between calling this a nuisance issue and a serious health concern. After all, the bites are annoying but not lethal or harmful to your health such that Columbus Health Department spokesman Jose Rodriguez told the Dispatch, “Bedbugs are really looked upon as a nuisance issue.”

But, Susan Jones, an entomology professor at Ohio State University, suggested that with the scabbing that occurs, possible secondary infections and the anxiety of the situation are all health concerns that must be addressed.

In fact, Harvard University suggests that a mild to severe allergic reaction can occur for some who suffer from bed bug bites over a prolonged period of time.

3-year-old Colton Oser is also featured in the article and is shown with awful-looking bed bug bites on his arm. Colton now takes allergy medicine to combat the bed bug bites which look like chicken pox.

With the Cincinnati health department requesting $348,000 for bed bugs education and inspections, Columbus officials are considering a task force be created and has already released its own tip list on bed bugs.

Director of Public Housing at Ohio State University, Claude Nesbit, told the Dispatch that the University needs to double its extermination budged after an infestation forced the emptying of over 100 rooms last year and the treatment of many more rooms to make sure the bed bugs did not spread their chaos.

The southern black widow is not native to Michigan and is thought to have been a stowaway in a dishwasher box sent from Mexico. Black widows do appear in the midwestern United States, but they are not the venomous southern version.

After helping his grandfather unload the dishwasher, Gregory told WOOD-TV that he smashed four black widow spiders. But, within a half-an-hour, a bite appeared and he began to vomit. After visiting the second of two hospitals – the only hospital in Michigan with the proper medicine – he was given a dose of antivenin.

Though the antivenin worked, Gregory’s symptoms of the dangerous black widow spider bite included disruption of his nervous system and excruciating, abdominal pain. As a result, he missed his senior season of football.

Gregory told WOOD that he still has the carcass of the southern black spider and plans to make a necklace out of it.

Oh, the irony!

The Peoria Journal Star is reporting that attendees of the recent Illinois Natural History Survey’s annual Insect Expo were bitten by the minute pirate bug. Joseph Spencer, an insect behaviorist, told the Journal star, “It almost felt like we were being bit by invisible bugs.”

According to the Iowa State University Department of Entomology, are the “rare cousins” of flower bugs and appear in late summer. Reactions vary with pirate bug bites resulting in swelling similar to mosquito bites, redness, no reaction.

The Journal Star says the bugs are commonly confused with buffalo gnats, a.k.a. black flies but don’t bring any disease and are not blood suckers. It is believed that the pirate bugs in the Illinois area feed on insect eggs and mites, consuming corn ear worm eggs.

But, it’s not all bad news in regards to the pirate bug. They actually provide a benefit to humans by controlling ear worm populations around corn crops according to the article. And as long as the pirate bug is well-fed, humans don’t have to worry about being their next meal.

A couple in Manchester, Connecticut, recently endured bed bugs in their luxury apartment before they finally had enough and left. According to NBC 30, the management of the complex didn’t help things, either.

Summer Rodgers, the tenant, told NBC 30, “[My husband] had all these bites on him, and they wouldn’t go away, and the way they bit him was in clusters, which wasn’t the normal mosquito or black-fly bite.”

After calling a bed bugs extermination expert and enduring weeks of treatments of the apartment by the exterminator, their place was still infested so they moved out – throwing out their bed and couch in the process.

Dr. Henry Feder, of St. Francis Hospital, told NBC 30, that even though the bed bug bites are irritating, unless you are allergic, the bed bug bites are not a health threat.

Spoken like someone who never had bed bugs.

From the UK’s Telegraph comes word that spider bite venom may help those afflicted with impotence for arthritis.

Prof Frank Schroeder and Prof Jerrold Meinwald of Cornell University, Ithaca, reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that after studying the molecules of venom injected from spider bites of 70 spider species including the brown recluse spider.

In addition to messenger chemicals that go to the brain and nervous system, spider bite venom also carries “different proteins, including enzymes such as hyaluronidase, deoxyribonuclease, ribonuclease, alkaline phosphatase, and lipase, which help to break down tissue, among other things.”

It’s this “break down of tissue” ability that has scientists interested in its application for erectile dysfunction and arthritis.

Not surprisingly, considering its power, the venom’s properties are also being researched for possible use in creating organic pesticides.

That’s exactly what happened according to reporter, Mary Ellen Godin from the Record-Journal, and flea bites in Wyoming may be at the bottom of it.

The man returned from a trip to Wyoming and entered the hospital with symptoms that were very similar to mumps such as “a large swelling on the left side of his neck in the lymph node and parotid gland, according to a report in the Jackson Hole Daily.” In addition, to putting the man on antibiotics, doctors took appropriate precautions with the staff in that the mumps are contagious.

Just before they were to release the man from the hospital as his condition had improved significantly, the test came back with the bubonic plaque result.

As it turns out, Dr. Robert Levitz, who specializes in infectious diseases, says that there are actually a few cases each year in the Soutwestern and Western United States and that rodents such as prairie dogs are believed to carry the disease. Flea bites usually transmit the disease to humans.

For the man who had spent a week in the Tetons of Wyoming and returned with the infection, after receiving the antibiotic Cipro, he made a full recovery according to the article. The bubonic plague doesn’t appear to have the impact it once did.

A group of emergency medical personnel from Somerset County, Pennsylvania, found out the hard way that chiggers and fire ants are “friendly” when they went to down to the Gulf Coast to help out with relief operations near Alexandria, Louisiana.

According to the Daily American, when the group arrived after a 27-hour car trip, their accomodations weren’t quite ready so they went to Wal-Mart and bought camping equipment including a tent.

After a night in the tent, the chiggers and fire ants bites were enough to let them know they were welcome.

Nevertheless, the EMTs persevered.

First, they waited out the hurricane passing over them in a shelter with other evacuees.

Then, they traveled within the Louisiana community and began their work – helping whomever need assistance from the damage caused by Hurricane Gustav.

All in all, it sounds like the most challenging part of the trip for this group of heroes was the insect bites.

Yet, that’s exactly what happened to Canadian Television’s sports director, Shawn Churchill, who was stung on the back of the head just prior to kickoff of a football game this past weekend according to the Winnipeg Sun.

Fortunately, football players on the sideline noticed that the reporter was starting to struggle with his breathing and ran to get team doctors.

It was the first time Churchill had been stung by a wasp and he didn’t think any thing of it, at first. He told the Sun:

“I felt something bite me on the back of the head, but just thought it was one of the players flicking me… A few minutes later, when I started talking on air, everything tightened up in my throat and I struggled to breathe.”

Churchill advises anyone in the same situation with a wasp sting allergy to not panic and seek medical attention as soon as possible.

This week, Churchill has started carrying with him an EpiPen which administers Epinepherine in case of an allergic reaction due to the allergy.

Dr. Ricardo Lobato de Faria, director of emergency services at the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, told the Winnipeg Sun that in spite of the seriousness of the wasp sting on Churchill, anaphylactic shock – a life-threatening condition – is rare for a first-time bite. But, he said that if a person continues to get stung, it’s possible for the threat for a serious reaction to go up.

A local exterminator, Lincoln Poulin (pictured with an enormous wasp nest), said that there are a lot more wasps this time of year. For homeowners, he recommended that anyone barbecuing outside – a magnet for wasps – should consider using wasp traps that are 5 to 6 feet away. He also advised that cream soda or old cooked chicken can be a deterrent due to the high odor and sugar content.

It is the third school building in the area to have been found containing the brown recluse spider and has left local officials, parents and students wondering what they can do to prevent coming in contact with the spider.

Sticky traps left by the Terminix workers at a local elementary school successfully caught the spiders during routine pest management visits last July.

The Illinois Department of Health points out that among the 3,700 species of spiders, there are only about a dozen that can have serious medical consequences. Of the 12 species, they either belong to the brown spiders (Loxosceles) group or the widow spiders (Latrodectus) group.

Also, according to health department officials, most bites heal within three weeks. Only a small number of people have severe reactions to bites or stings. Nonetheless, poisonous spiders are a concern in school buildings.

In a September 9 press release, officials concern over the illness transmitted through mosquito bites to humans is most acute forthe elderly and “persons with compromised immune systems” who should not go outside during peak mosquito activity times such as the early morning or evening.

Secretary of Health Dr. Calvin B. Johnson said:

“The Department of Health remains concerned about the risk of West Nile virus for Pennsylvania residents, particularly people in southeastern PA. The recent spraying in the Philadelphia area was a necessary measure to reduce the threat of human illness from West Nile virus and is likely to have prevented additional cases.”

Two possible manifestations of West Nile Virus are possible according to the Department of Health. First, the disease can cause what is known as West Nile Fever which can mean a headache, body aches, skin rash, and swollen lymph glands accompanied by the fever. The second and more serious version is West Nile encephalitis which brings an inflammation of the brain.

Encephalitis symptoms can include high fever, headache, neck stiffness, disorientation, a decreased level of alertness, tremors, seizures, paralysis, and coma according to officials.

It is recommended that anyone experiencing the onset of these symptoms should contact a medical care provider as soon as possible.

Similar to recommendations by officials and experts in other states, Pennsylvania officials recommend the use of DEET if you anticipate being outdoors in areas where mosquito bites are possible.

It is hoped that by understanding where all the infected animals are that Bluetongue – fatal to animals such as cattle and sheep – can be contained.

Using light traps, the microscopic midges are capture and each species is identified. With the identification, officials hope to find patterns that can help fight bluetongue.

Meanwhile, with 21.5 million doses of vaccine made available to farmers by the government, according to the Telegraph, farmers have fought hard to prevent the spread of bluetongue.

The two-winged fly, Ceratopogonidae version of the midge is known as a “biting midge” and believed to spread Blue Tongue according to Wikipedia.

The World Health Organization says “dengue is transmitted by the bite of an Aedes mosquito infected with any one of the four dengue viruses.”

With symptoms ranging from mild to high fever, there are no cures if you are infected according to the WHO (though they recommend hydration) and one of the worst afflictions associated with dengue – dengue haemorrhagic fever – can be fatal. Care by trained medical personnel in a hospital is recommended for those afflicted by mosquito bites containing the disease.

Back in Delhi, India, IBNLive says that the number of cases this year from the mosquito-born illness is 348 with two deaths.

Like many solutions offered by health care professionals and local officials, recommends that people sleep with long sleeve shirts, eliminate any pools of standing water where mosquitoes like to breed and, if eliminating water is impossible, IIMS Professor Bir Singh suggests spraying kerosene, diesel or black oil on the area which acts a mosquito repellent.

Obviously, the chemicals and fuels present other issues such as the danger of fire.