By AP/KWMU
St. Louis – A spider bite has killed a woman in the St. Louis suburb of Town and Country.
Rita Brumm, who was involved in many community organizations, died Monday of complications from a bite by a brown recluse. She was 40 years old.
The spider was hiding in a sweater that Brumm had just retrieved from a closet.
She had been treated at a hospital for a month before succumbing to the venom.
Dr. Michael Mullins at Barnes-Jewish Hospital said brown recluse bites are common, but fatalities are extremely rare.