After the invasion of spiders in Australia, Egypt must face a proliferation of scorpions favored by severe weather.
More than 500 people have been hospitalized in the province of Aswan, in southern Egypt, due to arachnid bites, according to a report reported by the AP news agency.
The province was, in fact, affected by heavy showers and thunderstorms, causing flooding over the weekend, forcing the scorpions to come out of their hiding places and take refuge in many houses, said Governor Ashraf Attia.
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The governor said at least 503 people had to be hospitalized after being bitten. However, the victims were able to return home after receiving doses of antivenom. Acting Minister of Health Khalid Abdel-Ghafar said no deaths linked to scorpion stings were to be deplored. The state-run daily
Al-Ahram,
however, reported three deaths without specifying the causes. Local authorities also closed schools on Sunday and urged residents of Aswan to stay at home.
Aswan, located along the Nile and home to 1.5 million people, is one of the driest cities in the world very rarely affected by such severe weather. If the bites are therefore not unusual in this desert region, the intense thunderstorms and hailstorms have however released a significant number of scorpions forcing the authorities to place hospitals on high alert in the face of the health emergency. Some doctors, on vacation or busy with vaccinations, have also come as reinforcements.
Fat-tailed scorpions, native to Egypt but also other arid regions of the Middle East and Africa, are among the deadliest in the world.
Without treatment, people can die within an hour of being bitten.
Additional doses of anti-venom had to be distributed to medical centers in villages near the mountains and the desert.