The death of Slayer guitarist’s Jeff Hanneman is now being attributed to a spider bite, according to an ABC News report from May 3.
Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman thought he was on the mend after the spider bite, followed by an infection, plagued the heavy-metal rocker two years ago. He’d been writing songs with the band in anticipation of recording a new album later this year.
But a representative for the band says the bite may have contributed to Hanneman’s death.
The 49-year-old Hanneman died Thursday of liver failure at a Los Angeles hospital with his wife, Kathy, by his side, according to Slayer spokeswoman Heidi Robinson-Fitzgerald.
Family members and doctors were not immediately available to discuss the cause of death.
Robinson-Fitzgerald said Hanneman had been slowly recovering from necrotizing fasciitis, a flesh-eating disease that nearly cost him his arm. Such an infection can develop from a minor cut or scratch; Robinson-Fitzgerald blamed the spider bite, for which Hanneman failed to seek immediate treatment.
Infections by flesh-eating bacteria are rare. The affliction can destroy muscle, fat and skin and may require surgery to remove the diseased tissue to save a patient’s life.
Hanneman had several operations to remove dead and dying tissue from his arm, the band said on its website last year.
The government estimates roughly 750 flesh-eating bacteria cases occur each year, usually caused by a type of strep germ. About one in five people with the most common kind of flesh-eating strep bacteria die.
People with weakened immune systems can be more at risk.
It is unclear whether an autopsy will be scheduled. No funeral arrangements have been made.
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