Adam Scott Actor

Jeff Seale was almost certainly not killed by a black widow spider, experts from the University of Colorado at Denver and the Museum of Natural Sciences, said Friday.

"I would say zero chance is not likely at all," said Dr. Paula Cushing, curator of invertebrate zoology museum and former president of the American Society Arachnological. "I think it is tragic that he died so young, but it is very unlikely that this is the cause."

The Seale 40 years old, died July 17 at his home in Erie. Her sister, Stephanie Baum in Longmont, said he reported the discovery of 19 bites on his left foot around July 2 and were believed to be a black widow. He saw a doctor two or three days later, he said, but do not seek medical treatment once more before his death.

"It could be totally unrelated to the bites on the feet," said Baum, wife of Mayor of Longmont Bryan Baum. "I really have no idea what could be."

The coroner's office in Boulder County has not released an official cause of death and is not expected for at least four weeks.

Human deaths by poisoning of the black widow are rare, usually occurs in the very young, the elderly or those with compromised immune systems. Seale was a former star pitcher of the Fairview High School and still in good shape, said his sister, apart from high blood pressure.

Both Cushing Whitney Cranshaw and entomologist from Colorado State University, said several details of a black widow is unlikely to be the cause of death. The first two indicate the number of bites - a black widow bites usually once if you feel threatened and then try to escape. Do not hang around for a second bite - no matter by 19 - unless it has nowhere to go, like a spider trapped in a shoe.

"But if my shoe, I know," said Cushing.

This is because a bite is not subtle. It's painful, Cranshaw said. The venom is a neurotoxin, a poison that interferes with the nervous system whose symptoms are in within 30 minutes.

"It's like someone is kicking in the stomach and again," said Cushing.

If not a spider 19 times, could have been the many? Again, it is unlikely, experts said. It is true that it is not uncommon to see several black widows in a barn or basement, Cushing said, but to invite the bite, usually have to be pressed against the spider or the threat of its website or egg sac. And even though spiders are predatory, non-hunters package.

"They do not conspire against the people," said Cranshaw.

The two experts also found the odd time. According to the National Library of Medicine, severe symptoms of a bite of the black widow begin to improve within two or three days, although milder symptoms may hang within a month. According to his sister, Seale initially matched the pattern: a couple of days of pain at first, followed by improvement with some flu-like symptoms later. But the pain he felt the day he died two weeks later did not fit.

"On Sunday morning, said his body was in excruciating pain," said Baum. "I could not get to do anything."

Both Cushing and Cranshaw agree that a bite from two weeks old, black widow should not be lethal.

"The fact that it was two weeks after these symptoms began to appear, the one that says (the cause of death) was not a black widow," said Cushing.

Baum said he had discussed other possibilities in the coroner.

A visit to Seale will be held from 6 to 8 pm Monday at Crist Mortuary in Boulder. A celebration of life will be held at 11:30 am Tuesday at First Presbyterian Church of Boulder, 1820 15th St. He will be honored at 4 pm Thursday at the baseball field at Fairview High School opening Legion state tournament.