With the accelerated urbanization over the last decades in Brazil, scorpions have become a bit of a nuisance over the past years and that goes for Brasilia as well. Now we do not want to sound too alarmist with this info, but for newcomers to Brasilia, especially if living in houses in Lago Sul or Lago Norte, there is a real chance that they will encounter scorpions sooner or later.

“According to the country’s public health system, the number of confirmed scorpion sting deaths has risen in the past eleven years, from 61 in 2007 to 90 in 2017, with cases of scorpion stings rising from 37,370 to 124,982 in this period. In the last 5 years (2013 to 2017) about 83% of deaths occurred within 48 hours of being stung.”( Ministério da Saúde - http://portalms.saude.gov.br/saude-de-a-z/acidentes-por-animais-peconhentos)

In Brazil there are about 160 species of scorpions, but the most dangerous ones are from the Tityus family, especially the Tityus serrulatus, also known as the yellow scorpion. The yellow scorpion is responsible for most of the severe cases and deaths in Brazil.

Now the chances that you will die if you are stung by a scorpion are pretty low, especially if you are an adult and a healthy person. But they can pose a serious health threats to children, seniors and pets.

Most people who get stung are classified as mild cases and experienced pain, erythema, paresthesia and sweating. In more severe cases vomiting, profuse sweating, increased blood pressure, acute Congestive heart failure and acute lung edema can be expected.

If stung by a scorpion it is important that you immediately go to the hospital and, after killing it, take the scorpion with you so that the hospital staff knows what species it is. Do not panic as this will cause the venom to circulate faster through your system. Most likely the hospital will treat the sting area to control the pain and keep you under observation for about 6 hours.

The main food source of scorpions are cockroaches and crickets which means that if you have a cockroach problem, you will find that you have a scorpion problem as well. It is advised to have a pest control company treat your place against cockroaches at least ones a year.

The scorpions favorite nesting and hiding areas are crawl spaces, bathrooms, garages potted plants and kitchen cabinets. If you have a garden, just keep in mind that under that rock you want to move there might be one mighty pissed of scorpion not appreciating to be disturbed.

Again, we do not want to be too alarmist, but it is better to be prepared and know about the danger.