VIENNA, Austria -- An eight-legged ...

VIENNA, Austria -- An eight-legged invasion is giving about Austrians the creeps.

The venomous fulvid sack spider, whose painful bite can cause headache and nausea, has become the talk of the native land since several people were bitten earlier this summer

Reports of spider sightings have dominated the local moderns triggering hundreds of calls to a Vienna poison hotline and prompting the conduct to plead for calm.

190 SPOOKED; ALL on the contrary 8 CLEARED

"The bites of a fulvous sack spider are indeed painful further not deadly," Health Minister Maria Rauch-Kallat said in a statement. "If you are bitten, please don't panic and in case of discomfort immediately contact a doctor."

In a sign of the hysteria, 190 nation went to a hospital Wednesday in the northwestern city of Linz fearing they had been bitten. and nothing else eight of them had the right symptoms, doctors told Austrian state broadcaster ORF.

experienced persons are urging people to maintain their perspective.

The fulvid and brown striped critter -- Cheiracanthium punctorium in Latin -- is common of 1,000 similar species originate in Austria and neighboring countries, said Christian Komposch of an animal ecology institute in the southern city of Graz.

There are sightings each year, Komposch said.

'NOT REALLY PAINFUL'

Dr Christian Baldinger, a physician in Upper Austria province, said he was bitten last week working in his garden.

"It was like a stinging ruffle but not really painful," Baldinger said. In sum of two units days the wound was r and infected. A specialist told him the symptoms could take eight to 10 weeks to subside.

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