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Staff reporters and AP, The West Australian October 3, 2013, 10:36 am
The death toll from a rare spate of hornet attacks in central China has reached 41 people, local authorities said.
The Shaanxi Provincial Government said in a statement that the attacks had plagued not only the city of Ankang, where 19 died as reported by the official Xinhua News Agency, but had killed 22 others in two adjacent cities in the province’s south.
All told, more than 1,600 people have been injured, and 37 of them are in critical or serious condition in hospitals, the Provincial Government said.
It said it has mobilised a special medic team and trained more medical personnel to treat victims, and an Ankang official told Xinhua that firefighters have been removing hornet nests.
The Provincial Government said hornets are most aggressive in behaviour when they mate and migrate in September and October.
Local officials have also said drier and warmer weather this year has contributed to the ferocity of attacks.
But Environmental activists have blamed rapid urbanisation for making the problem worse as more rural land is swallowed up for urban development, intruding into habitats where hornets hunt and build their nests.
The Chinese term for hornets is "hu feng" - those behind the deadly attacks this summer appear to be the Asian giant hornet, or Vespa mandarinia.
Wasp stings have killed 41 people and injured more than 1,630 others in northwest China's Shaanxi Province.
They attacked residents in the cities of Ankang, Hanzhong and Shangluo in the south of the province, China News Service reported yesterday. More than 200 victims are still in hospital, 37 of them in a critical condition.
Experts say it is currently the breeding and migrating season for wasps, who can become ferocious and attack if disturbed. Wasp stings can also cause allergic reactions.
Shaanxi authorities have set up a team of medical experts to visit victims and offer support. Fire departments have been equipped with protection suits and pesticides to deal with the problem.
