DUBAI // It looks like an Australian redback spider and acts like one. But the arachnid that has been spotted in back gardens across the UAE is most likely not the much-feared venomous creature from Down Under.
The spider is instead related to the Antipodean variety, according to two specialists who have been studying the specimens. It is a different species from the same genus, Latrodectus, or widow spiders, they said.
It is not known how much more or less of a threat this species posed to humans, though the venom may be just as toxic.
The latest research appears to dispel the rumours about the redback spiders that have pervaded the Emirates in recent years.
"The Australian one is not the only one with the red back," said Jeremy Miller, a spider expert, or arachnologist, with the Netherlands Centre for Biodiversity Naturalis. "What we have in the UAE is clearly closely related, which probably means that the venom has a similar effect."
But he said it was "not guaranteed". "We don't yet know how dangerous they are to humans compared to redbacks," he said.
The species found in the UAE also has a red stripe running down its back. But it has different DNA and microscopic identifying marks, such as the shape of the stripe, colour pattern underneath, arrangement of the hair and details of the genitalia.
The spider may be indigenous, said Dr Miller, who has identified the species in Iraq and Sri Lanka. Or it may have come from Africa, said Barbara Knoflach-Thaler, a specialist at the University of Innsbruck in Austria.
Classifying the 30-odd species of widow spiders can be difficult because only hazy information exists about all but the best-known members, such as the redback spider and the black widow found in America.
"Latrodectus is unfortunately really notorious for being really difficult to be identified," said Dr Knoflach-Thaler.
The redback scare began more than five years ago, after the spider expert Paul Hillyard, from the Natural History Museum in London, identified them in the UAE on behalf of the Dubai Municipality (he and the municipality declined to comment on the new findings).
Residents from Ras al Khaimah to Abu Dhabi began reporting sightings. Ninety lodged complaints with the pest control section of the Dubai Municipality in a year, and pest control firms hired to eradicate them confirmed the spiders' presence.
However, insect experts and doctors downplayed the danger of the UAE widow spider.
Few, if any, have been reported to have attacked humans, either because they did not get close enough or because they shy away from people, said Antonius van Harten, a research coordinator for the UAE Insect Project, who helped provide samples to the arachnologists abroad.
Only three species of widow spiders - the redback from Australia and others in the US and Europe - were known to show aggression towards humans, he explained.
"In all these years, every time the story comes back about the Australian redback spider, I never hear of anyone getting a bite," he said.
Rashid Hospital in Dubai and the Health Authority - Abu Dhabi (HAAD) said they stocked antivenin for redback spiders, which specialists agreed would work for the widow spider found here.
"It's named different, but it's treated the same," said Yasser Sharif, the head of medication and medical product safety at HAAD. The venom, if comparable with that of redback spiders, as many experts reason it would be, would almost certainly not be fatal but would warrant antivenin, particularly for the young, elderly and hypersensitive.
The venom could cause nausea and vomiting and, possibly, a severe headache, high blood pressure and epileptic seizures, said Dr Ahmed Saleh Abdou, a consultant at Rashid Hospital in infectious diseases and tropical medicines.
As with several other doctors interviewed, he said he and his unit at the hospital had never encountered such a case. "We only know stories from people. I have never been confronted by a patient," he said.
chuang@thenational.ae
Availability of antivenin
Residents’ fears of the spiders are not helped by confusion over where to turn for help and find antivenin.
Authorities acknowledged service is limited. Dubai Municipality Pest Control Section is only attending to complaints in limited situations, said the section official, Motahar Hossain. “But there are 90 private pest control companies available and registered ... and ready to take any complaints.”
Confusion remained about where the antivenin was stocked. American Hospital, rumoured to carry it, did not, said Dr Imad Fakhani, the chief of the emergency department. Nor did Dubai, Welcare or City Hospital, all major hospitals in the emirate.
In fact, the antivenin is kept in a central storage, available to any hospital requesting it, said Dr Ahmed Saleh Abdou, of Rashid Hospital. In Abu Dhabi, it is available in public hospitals, said Dr Yasser Sharif, of Health Authority – Abu Dhabi.
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Launch year: 2016
Number of employees: 130
Sector: online laundry service
Funding: $12.9m from Kuwait-based Faith Capital Holding
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Pool B Abu Dhabi Harlequins, Jebel Ali Dragons, Dubai Knights Eagles, Dubai Tigers
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Thursday, December 5
6.40pm, Pitch 8, Abu Dhabi Harlequins v Dubai Knights Eagles
7pm, Pitch 2, Jebel Ali Dragons v Dubai Tigers
7pm, Pitch 4, Dubai Hurricanes v Dubai Exiles
7pm, Pitch 5, Bahrain v Dubai Eagles 2
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2017 Dubai Exiles
2016 Abu Dhabi Harlequins
2015 Abu Dhabi Harlequins
2014 Abu Dhabi Harlequins
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Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
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Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
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Fixtures
Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE
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UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
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Founder: Areej Selmi
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Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
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What: International friendly
When: 7pm kick off
Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
Admission: Free
Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page
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RESULTS
2.30pm Jaguar I-Pace – Conditions (PA) Dh80,000 (Dirt)
1,600m
Winner Namrood, Antonio Fresu (jockey), Musabah Al Muhairi
(trainer)
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Winner Scabbard, Sam Hitchcock, Doug Watson
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A recent survey of 10,000 Filipino expatriates in the UAE found that 82 per cent have plans to invest, primarily in property. This is significantly higher than the 2014 poll showing only two out of 10 Filipinos planned to invest.
Fifty-five percent said they plan to invest in property, according to the poll conducted by the New Perspective Media Group, organiser of the Philippine Property and Investment Exhibition. Acquiring a franchised business or starting up a small business was preferred by 25 per cent and 15 per cent said they will invest in mutual funds. The rest said they are keen to invest in insurance (3 per cent) and gold (2 per cent).
Of the 5,500 respondents who preferred property as their primary investment, 54 per cent said they plan to make the purchase within the next year. Manila was the top location, preferred by 53 per cent.
Company%20profile
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