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Habitat
- Stingrays live in
warm and tropical areas. As the climate gets cooler they
move to deeper place.
- Stingrays are not
usually aggressive. They rummage on the sea bottom and only
- attack if they have
been stepped on or threatened.
Diet
They
feed on molluscs, small fish, worms and other little creatures.
Venom
Although
stingrays are venomous, the major clinical problem is often
related to mechanical trauma from the sting produce by the slender
whipping tail.
It
may produce severe penetrating injuries or and subsequent
infection, including tetanus. Envenomation may result
in increasing local pain which may spread to involve the entire
limb, with swelling and a characteristic bluish white appearance
of the wound. Systemic symptoms are rare, but may include nausea
and vomiting, muscle cramps, diarrhoea, salivation,
sweating, syncope, cardiac arrhythmias and convulsions.
-
Treat the wound as you
would treat any deep penetrating injuries or sever
laceration.
- Take the patient to
the nearest medical centre for observation. Infection of the
contaminated wound may develop.
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