Fire Ants Blamed in Death of South Carolina Woman

BLUFFTON, S.C. - A 68-year-old woman died after she was stung by fire ants while gardening.

Janet Wallace Roedl Shiansky was planting flowers Saturday when several ants ran up her sneaker and stung her foot. Her husband, Harry Shiansky, brushed them off and his wife went inside to dab ammonia on the stings, her family said.

A few minutes later, he went inside to check on her and found her lying on a bed unresponsive, said the couple's daughter, Ilene Shiansky.

Paramedics rushed Janet Shiansky to the hospital where she was revived, but her brain began to swell and she died Sunday, Ilene Shiansky said.

Doctors told the family that she suffered an allergic reaction to the ant stings which caused her airway to shut.

Only about 1 percent of people can react that way to ant stings, said Dr. Bill Simpson, director of the agromedicine program at the Medical University of South Carolina and Clemson University.

One to three people die in South Carolina each year because of fire ant stings, Simpson said.

Source: Charlotte Observer