Medical information on how to treat patients bitten by fire ants posted on a doctor's website at a Nagoya hospital has garnered great interest by doctors nationwide.
Fire ants, an alien invasive species, were first spotted in late May in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, after the insect sneaked in via cargo shipped to the country. Since then many media outlets published reports alerting to the highly venomous bites of these ants.
During this period of heightened concern, scientists provided plenty of knowledge on fire ants' biology and colony characteristics, but there had been scant information on the potential health impacts on humans.