( CNN ) -- The death of Slayer founder and Grammy-winning heavy metal guitarist Jeff Hanneman launched speculation Friday that focused on a spider bite . Hanneman , 49 , died Thursday of liver failure in Southern California , the band said in a statement . Though there was no official word from a physician or medical professional about Hanneman 's death , several news outlets reported what Hanneman 's band said in a statement Friday -- that the rocker 's death was connected to a spider bite that he suffered at least more than a year ago . On the band 's website , a statement read that in January Hanneman contracted necrotizing fasciitis `` likely caused by a spider bite , and has been undergoing surgeries , skin grafts and intense rehab since . '' Necrotizing fasciitis is a flesh-eating condition . Read about necrotizing faciitis . On Friday , CNN 's Elizabeth Cohen spoke to Dr. Donna Seger who routinely treats spider-bite victims at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Tennessee . The state is known for its recluse spider population . Seger , a medical doctor , is the medical director of Tennessee Poison Center and professor of medicine and emergency medicine at Vanderbilt . She said that spider bites do not lead to organ failure . But infections -- which could develop after a variety of scenarios ranging from a mosquito bite or even a scratch on the skin from a nail -- can sometimes lead to bad outcomes . Could Hanneman have been suffering from an infection ? And from what ? Without his treating physician weighing in , that is unclear . Seger stressed that , on the whole , patients with spider bites recover fine if they follow medical instructions and keep their bite areas clean so that a scab can form and fall off . `` I think it 's really important that spider bites be understood because there 's so many urban legends about , you know , you get a spider bite , your limb falls off and you die , '' Seger said . `` That does n't happen . '' Separate from discussion on the cause of death , the musician 's passing reverberated throughout the music community . The guitarist was with Slayer from its founding in 1981 . Its breakthrough came five years later with the release of `` Reign in Blood , '' an album that included two songs -- `` Angel of Death '' and `` Raining Blood '' -- co-written by Hanneman . That was one of 10 studio albums that the band put out over three decades together , during which they performed thousands of shows . On Slayer 's official website , Hanneman said that the last one -- `` World Painted Blood '' -- came together quickly because the band 's members worked seamlessly . `` The interaction between all of us on this record was really something special , '' he said . `` ... The chemistry was just good . '' In 2006 and 2007 , Slayer won Grammy awards for best metal performance . The metal world -- in tweets from , among many others , the bands Rancid , Hatebreed , In Flames and Testament -- reacted to Hanneman 's death with sadness and appreciation , referring to him as a `` true heavy metal legend '' and a `` brother in thrash . '' `` Jeff Hanneman will always be a metal god , '' wrote rocker Andrew WK . `` A true master , he gave energy and excitement to millions , and will continue to . # PartyForSlayer . '' CNN 's John Bonifield , Elizabeth Cohen , Denise Quan , Amanda Watts and Chelsea Carter contributed to this report .
Slayer 's website says Jeff Hanneman 's liver-failure death was linked to a spider bite . Website says he `` contracted necrotizing fasciitis ... likely caused by a spider bite '' but the site does not say how it happened or what kind of spider bit him. Hanneman was among founders of heavy metal band Slayer in 1981 .