Wednesday, January 18, 2012

'Nairobi Eye' Blister Beetle- Nairobi Kenya

This rather attractively coloured insect (Paederus eximius) is the scourge of the long rainy season here in Nairobi. Blister lesions caused by this 1cm long beetle are like heat burns, spread via itching and can take between 1 and 7 weeks to heal. The best treatment is first aid ASAP with a poultice of moist bicarbonate of soda which seems to reduce toxicity and spread.

Interesting how many toxic creatures tend to advertise themselves via bright colours.
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1 comment:

  1. Bevlyn JamiesonMay 8, 2012 at 4:23 PM

    We got an infestation on our houseboat in Kariba, in the month of April/May 2012 started off in 3 of the passengers eyes and then spread rapidly over the next week to all the passengers and all parts of their bodies! We treated it with tetracyline eye ointment, betadene scrub and glycerine and itachmol ointment, which is like liquid tar! found out that we had to wash our towels and sheets to stop the spread as well.

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