Snake mistake: CSIRO says it's a myth that Australia is home to world's deadliest species

Australian science agency says there are a ‘negligible number of human deaths’ from snake bites in Australia

Australian Associated Press

Sun 26 May 2019 03.12 BSTLast modified on Sun 26 May 2019 16.05 BST

The popular suggestion that Australia is home to the world’s deadliest snakes is largely a myth, with the risk of bites and death far greater across Asia, Africa and South America, the nation’s science agency has said.

Herpetologist Ruchira Somaweera from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) said the myth was born a few decades ago and came out of a study of the relatively high toxicity levels found in Australian species, such as brown snakes.

But Somaweera said the study did not include many well-known highly dangerous snakes from other continents and, even more importantly, had little relevance to humans.

“If you look at the amount of people who actually die [in Australia] from snakes each year, it’s practically nothing, the encounter rates are so low in comparison to other parts of the world.” he said.

“Factors such as the quality of antivenom, our paramedical services and knowledge of first aid is really good here in Australia, which contributes to the negligible number of human deaths.”

By comparison, in parts of Asia, Africa and South America there are a group of snakes called vipers which are large, aggressive and common.

Worse still, encounter rates and bites are high in agricultural lands due to limited preventative knowledge such as appropriate footwear and little first aid training.

Continued

Tiny Nanoparticles To Treat Huge Problem: Snake Bites in Tropical Area - via Herp Digest

by Donald G. McNeil, Jr, 10/12/18, New York Times

It’s still a distant dream, but a Californian chemist and Costa Rican venom expert are reporting progress in a novel effort to make injectable nanoparticles that can neutralize snake venom and can be carried in backpacks.

In a recent study in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, their particles protected mice against tissue damage from spitting-cobra venom without triggering allergic reactions.

In wealthy countries, snakes are an abiding threat to an unlucky few, among them hikers, ranch hands, soldiers, zookeepers and reptile collectors.

In the tropics of Africa, Asia and Latin America, however, they are a major cause of death and disability in rural areas: more than 2 million people are bitten each year. About 100,000 of them die, and another 400,000 are left with serious disabilities, including amputations or nerve damage so extensive that a leg or hand is permanently useless.

Snakebite research has been slim, compared to the scope of the threat — and often controversial. Old first-aid maxims — like slitting open the wound and sucking out the venom — are now discredited.

There have been reports of electric shocks, including stun guns, used to break down the poisons. But most reports are anecdotal, and there is no accepted explanation about how they work — if they work.

Antivenins have existed for decades, of course, but they are expensive, potentially dangerous and used only rarely in poor countries. The medicines contain antibodies harvested from the blood of sheep or horses that have been injected with diluted venom and allowed to recover.

The process is cumbersome, and the antibodies must be kept refrigerated. Few drug companies bother to make antivenins, so the prices are high.

Because they contain horse or sheep proteins, antivenins also can trigger life-threatening anaphylactic shock or hemorrhaging. They must be given intravenously in an emergency room, and many bite victims die before they can reach hospitals.

Moreover, anti-venoms are very species-specific: a treatment for cobra bites, for example, will not help against rattlesnake or asp bites. Hospitals must keep many kinds of antivenins on hand, and victims must be able to produce or describe the snake that bit them.

“They have a lot of issues, but they’re the only show in town,” said Kenneth J. Shea, a chemist at the University of California, Irvine.

Dr. Shea’s lab is creating hydrogel nanoparticles coated with polymers — the building blocks of plastics — small enough to attach to proteins.

While screening them against common venoms, he isolated some nanoparticles that bind with and neutralize two poisons produced by snakes like cobras, kraits, coral snakes, sea snakes and mambas.

José María Gutiérrez, a venom specialist at the University of Costa Rica, injected dozens of mice with the venom of the black-necked spitting cobra. He found that Dr. Shea’s nanoparticles significantly reduced tissue damage in the mice. Importantly, the nanoparticles did not appear to interfere with normal proteins or to trigger dangerous allergic reactions.

Much more research needs to be done, Dr. Shea said, but the goal is to create a cocktail of particles that could be loaded in an injector like an Epi-Pen.

It would not completely replace antivenins. But since the nanoparticles are relatively easy to make and need no refrigeration, they could be carried in the field and injected into the site of a bite, reducing tissue damage and stopping the poison from spreading. That would buy time to reach better treatment.

Asked about the source of his funding, Dr. Shea said, “Well, right now I don’t have any money for this.”

The military expressed initial interest, he said, and so has the veterinary industry. But he also hopes to attract the attention of groups that fund global health research, like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation or the Wellcome Trust.

The path to regulatory acceptance may be a long one. Use of nanoparticles in medicine is relatively new, and for clinical trials involving snakebites, “there aren’t many volunteers,” Dr. Shea said.

When it rains, snake bites soar

Date:  September 5, 2018

Source:  University of Colorado at Boulder

Hikers and trail runners be warned: Rattlesnakes and other venomous reptiles may bite more people during rainy years than in seasons wracked by drought, a new study shows.

The research, which was led by Caleb Phillips of the University of Colorado Boulder and Grant Lipman of the Stanford University School of Medicine, examined 20 years of snakebite data from across California. Their findings contradict a popular theory among many wilderness health professionals that drought might increase snake bites by pushing the reptiles into the open where they are more likely to run into people.

Instead, the group discovered that for every 10 percent increase in rainfall over the previous 18 months, cases of snake bites spiked by 3.9 percent in California's 58 counties.

The results could have implications for efforts to prevent and treat dangerous encounters between humans and snakes, especially as climate patterns shift across the western United States.

"This study shows a possible unexpected, secondary result of climate change," said Phillips, an adjunct assistant professor in CU Boulder's Department of Computer Science. "We probably need to take climatological changes into account when we coordinate systems that may seem unrelated like planning how we distribute antivenin supplies or funding poison control centers."

Phillips and his colleagues suspect that the reason for the surge in snake bites during wet years may come down to snake food. Mice and other rodents, the prime meals for rattlesnakes, flourish in rainy years -- and that might give snakes a boost.

Continued  https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/09/180905113638.htm

Maharashtra records most snake bite cases in India in 2017—Maharashtra recorded 19,012 cases from rural areas and 5,425 cases from urban spaces – via Herp Digest

Hindustan Times, 11/19/17 by Bardi Chatterjee

Of the 1.14 lakh cases of snake bites in India between April 1 and October 31, 24,437 were in Maharashtra, putting the state on top of the list compiled by the ministry of health and family welfare.

While West Bengal came a close second (23,666 cases), 10,735 cases were reported from Andhra Pradesh, 7,657 from Odisha, 7,619 from Karnataka, 6,976 from Uttar Pradesh, 4,567 from Tamil Nadu, and 4,079 from Telangana. The data showed 94,874 cases were reported from rural areas.

Maharashtra recorded 19,012 cases from rural areas and 5,425 cases from urban spaces. Nashik reported most incidents in the state (2,696), followed by Palghar (2,343), Thane (1,332) Raigad (1,216), Jalgaon (1,180) and Pune (1,081). Mumbai came last with 133 cases.

Experts blamed lack of lights, garbage management and awareness to deal with situations, said experts. “We need to create awareness about how the incidents happen and how to tackle them. There is a need to avoid open defecation, sleeping on the floor,” said Sunil Limaye, chief conservator of forest, Thane forest range. “We also need to provide specialised training to all medical doctors, be it at primary medical centres, clinics and hospitals, regarding urgent steps to be taken.”

Officials from the Maharashtra animal welfare board said they will inform the state government about the rising incidents and work with ministry of health to reduce the issue. “The figures are alarming for Maharashtra. Awareness drives are already in progress at the local panchayat levels, but they will be expedited,” said NG Jayasimha, member, Maharashtra animal welfare board. “Snake bite deaths can be completely prevented. Open defecation is a major issue. Providing basic amenities such as solar lights and toilets in remote areas can help.”

This is the first year the union health ministry collated country-wide data on snake-bite cases on the Health Management Information System (HMIS), said central government officials. “Our intention is to increase reporting,” said a senior official from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. “Guidelines were issued to all state governments to direct hospitals at the city, district and village levels to submit data on snake-bite emergencies. This will act as a database to identify locations where anti-snake venom can be provided to mitigate such cases faster.”

“There is more awareness and the presence of local clinics in rural districts in Maharashtra and West Bengal compared to other states that are able to deal with such cases,” he said.

According to a Lancet study from October this year -- Snake-bite in India: a neglected disease of poverty -- in India, 49 000 people die of snake bites every year, although this figure is probably underestimated because most patients in rural India attend village healers, read the study. “Doctors at primary health centres in India are replaced every 6-12 months and have poor knowledge on how to tackle them. Many victims die on the journey to big, city-based hospitals,” the study said.

Doctors said snake bites need to be made a nationally notifiable disease such as AIDS, polio or malaria. “To avoid panic situations, doctors also need to be well aware about the difference between poisonous and non-poisonous snakes,” said Dr YK Gupta, head, department of pharmacology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and chief of National Poisons Information Centre.

He said there is a need for widespread availability of anti-snake venom in rural districts. “Based on primary reporting of the issue, the central government along with states, need to map areas prone to snake bites cases and deaths. Once this is done, provide primary hospitals with a large stock of anti-snake venom, and this information needs to be shared to the most remote medical clinics for faster treatment and availability of medicines,” said Dr Gupta.

Centre Admits 2,806 Snake Bite Patients (Nigeria) – via Herp Digest

PM News Lagos, Nigeria 11/7/12  

At least 2,806 patients were admitted at the Snake Bite Treatment and Research Centre, Kaltungo, Gombe State from January to November, 2012.

The Medical Officer in Charge of the Centre, Dr Habu Ballah, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaltungo on Tuesday.

He said of the figure 33 patients died owing to the delay in reaching the centre, while four others died on arrival at the centre.

Dr Ballah recalled that 316 patients attended the centre in 2011, saying the existing figure was higher owing to factors such as flooding, lack of awareness of treatment at the centre and increase in farming activities.

He said apart from the state, patients were brought from Taraba, Plateau, Bauchi, Adamawa, Jigawa, Kano, Yobe and even Cameroun.

“Last year, we recorded about 316 patients, but this year we are going to have more than that.

“The increase is due to awareness on the part of the patients on the services here, flooding that took place this year which made the snakes to be in the land and the engagements in the farms as civil servants engaged in farming,” he said. According to him, in the six days of November we so far have about 90 patients and the increase is due to harvesting and flooding.

He said before this month, an average of 12 patients were brought to the centre daily, but added that the figure increased to 19 because of harvesting season and flooding.

Ballah advised people in the snake infested areas to wear boots and gloves when working in the nights, leave markets and farms early as the snakes start coming out from 6.30 p.m.

He commended women in Kaltungo for building and donating a ward at the centre.

He commended the Rotary Club of Greenwich, England, for providing 70 vials of drugs and some philanthropists in the state who donated drugs, mattresses as well as the 11 Local Governments in the state which gave N5.5 million worth of drugs.