Antara 20 Mar 12;
Surabaya, East Java (ANTARA News) - Around 103 people have been treated at health care centers in Surabaya, the capital of East Java province, after being bitten by the `tomcat` insects.
"All those affected have been declared outpatients," the head of the Surabaya health service, Esty Martiana Rachmie, said to media persons here on Tuesday.
The patients, who are suffering from skin burns and blisters, have been treated at 13 sub-district health care centers.
She said that with the cooperation of the agriculture service, anticipatory measures have been taken to stop the spread of the poisonous insects to other areas.
"We have also conducted an information campaign for the public with regard to the insects," she added.
Esty noted that most people do not know what to do when they are bitten by tomcats. "They usually hit the insect causing it to excrete a poisonous fluid that causes burns and blisters on the skin," she said.
She mentioned that she has ordered the staff of health care centers to ask patients to report to the agriculture service if they find the insects in their homes.
Esty said the insect bites could be treated with anti-infection and allergy medicines.
The secretary of the city`s agriculture service, Hari Tjahyono, said his service has conducted eradication efforts by spraying the animals with a non-chemical insecticide.
"We have even sent 10 workers at night to deal with the problem at affected places," he said.
He called on the people not to panic and to immediately report to the local agriculture service when they find the insects.
"When they are bitten by the insects they must immediately cleanse the affected area with soap, but when the affected area is burned and blistered then they must go to the health care centers for treatment," he added.
(T.A052/H-YH/INE/KR-BSR/F001)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Indonesia’s Surabaya Reports Beetle Attacks in 12 Subdistricts
Jakarta Globe 20 Mar 12;
Surabaya has reported the spread of rove beetles in 12 out of its 31 subdistricts, as residents are growing more restless with the reported “poisonous” attacks of the insects better known here as tomcats.
An official at Surabaya’s Agriculture Agency, Ketut Suharto, said on Tuesday this was not the first time rove beetles attacked the East Java capital. Last year, two subdistricts reported similar problems.
“But in 2012, 12 subdistricts out of 31 subdistricts in Surabaya have reported tomcat attacks. They’ve happened in housing, settlement areas,” Ketut said in a live interview with TV One.
He called on residents to minimize the use of lights in the evening, saying they attracted rove beetles. When the beetles come into contact with humans, they often spurt body fluids that can cause severe skin irritation.
Residents of Surabaya’s Pakuwon City and students of SD Al Muttaqien, a Surabaya elementary school, have been among those reporting attacks.
Pictures of awful skin rashes and irritations, reportedly caused by the attacks, have spread among Indonesian social media users.
Earlier on Monday, Surabaya Agriculture Agency secretary Hari Tjahjono said the beetles were spreading following the loss of their natural habitats.
“Many of their habitats have now been turned into housing complexes, pushing tomcats to leave their nests and spread everywhere,” Hari said.
He added his agency was spraying insecticides around the city outskirts in a move to curb the spread of rove beetles.
JG/Antara
Development In Surabaya Sets Off Itchy Rash of Insects
Dessy Sagita, Amir Tejo & Vento Saudale Jakarta Globe 21 Mar 12;
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.
Ketut Suharto, an agriculture agency official, told local TV stations that the bugs were being found in residential areas, drawn into people’s homes by bright lights at night.
Residents of the Pakuwon City residential estate and students at SD Al Muttaqien, an Islamic elementary school, were among those reporting severe rashes after coming into contact with the beetles. The graphic images of the rashes have also made the rounds on social media.
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.
“Just put them inside a plastic bag carefully and throw it in a safe place.”
The beetle looks similar to an ant, but it has a more elongated body with orange and black striations. When threatened, it raises its abdomen in the manner of a scorpion.
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.
Those who do come into contact with the bugs are advised to thoroughly rinse the affected skin under flowing water, scrub it with soap and wipe it with an antiseptic solution. A cold compress can also be applied to prevent blisters from spreading.
Tjandra said health officials in Surabaya were spraying pesticide in the bug-infested areas and educating residents about what to do if they encountered the beetles.
However, Teguh Riyanto, the head of the agriculture agency’s pest eradication unit, said it was virtually impossible to get rid of all the rove beetles.
“Their range is too large, so it’s ineffective to try to spray pesticide everywhere,” he said.
He also warned that the indiscriminate use of pesticide could prompt undue panic about the extent of the infestation.
“The only way to stem the outbreak of rashes is to avoid wet or moist areas, which is where these insects typically nest,” he said.
Teguh added that it was important for housing estate managers to cover any standing water to keep the bugs from breeding.
“The areas the bugs are now attacking used to be swamps and have been developed for housing estates,” he said.
Aunu Rauf, an entomologist at the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB), blamed the infestation on the destruction of Surabaya’s mangrove swamps, a key habitat for the rove beetle.
“With the destruction of their habitat, they’re forced to seek out other areas with similar characteristics,” he said.
“That means they’ll be looking for places that are moist and where there are smaller insects that they can prey on.”