Foreign weed spreads dermatitis to India

A weed which was carried into India from the United States has spread within a decade across a thousand miles of the country from Bangalore in the south to Kashmir in the north. This prolific plant, Parthenium hysterophorus, has brought with it a near epidemic of contact dermatitis. The outbreak is so serious that the Indian Department of Science and Technology held a meeting to see what can be done to eradicate this unwelcome intruder.