Sarah Johnson, of Nevada, told Newsweek she had been visiting a temple in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, when a creature became trapped in her long dress and stung her.

Although Johnson is not certain what actually attacked her, it was likely to be an Asian giant hornet, also known as a murder hornet.

“The pain felt like a bee sting at first, then—within a second—morphed into something like a scorching hot poker going all the way through my lower calf, I’d say a 10/10 on pain scale,” Johnson said.

“I did see it fly away and it was quite large; larger than any wasp I’ve seen in the States. I think it’s very possible that it was a murder hornet, but I can’t say for sure.”

Giant hornets are native to Asia, but they can also be found across Europe, Africa, and North America. Murder hornets have a particularly painful sting due to the toxicity of their venom. The venom holds more toxins than the average stinging insect, such as bees or wasps.

Despite this, hornets only sting when they feel threatened.

In this case, Johnson believes the insect became trapped under her dress and stung out of defense. The sting usually goes away on its own, and the pain can be helped by over-the-counter medication. Venom from a hornet is only fatal in extremely rare circumstances, when a person holds an allergic reaction to it.

“I bought a cold bottled water and held the bottle on the wound for about 15 minutes. It swelled like a normal bee sting at first, then disappeared. I managed fine the rest of the day with just a little pain at the sting site,” Johnson said.

“Intense itching started over that first night. By the next morning, the swelling and redness started—which I thought, at the time, looked terrible…little did I know what was coming.”

Johnson posted a picture of her bite to Reddit showing a huge, red rash emanating from the site of the sting.

The bite, which was “extremely itchy, like 100 mosquito bites” was “all-consuming,” the travel blogger said. But on the third day after the bite, real pain set in.

“That’s when the pain started. It was hard to put weight on my leg. The itching was intense. It throbbed in the heat—and felt like it could just burst open. My calf was swollen to almost double its normal size. And the redness was worse than anything I’d ever seen. I would also get these random stabbing sensations from the wound area,” Johnson said.

Reddit users started warning her the injury could be from flesh-eating cellulitis—an infection that, if left to develop, can strip away at the skin.

One Reddit user told Johnson to “go see a doctor ASAP.”

“I could see blue/purple veins coming through. That’s when I really started to get worried. I was scared,” Johnson said.

However, the pain eventually started to subside.

“I woke up and the pain was actually less intense. The itching wasn’t as bad either. It seemed like it just turned a corner overnight. I went to the clinic anyway and the doctor wasn’t concerned. I believe he said it was a ’localized histamine response’ to a sting. He gave me steroids, a cortisone/antibiotic cream, and a double dose of antihistamine,” Johnson said.

“Now the only pain I feel is when I touch it with a little bit of pressure. It feels similar to a bruise.”

Johnson said as a travel blogger, she has traveled to many countries.

“I’ve never had something like this happen before. I certainly hope it doesn’t dissuade people from traveling to tropical climates or Malaysia.”

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