Snakebite
There is an urgent need to ensure the availability of safe, effective and affordable antivenoms, particularly in Africa tropical regions.
Dangerous venomous snakebites are common in Africa life-saving treatment is not.
Explore and Understand Africa Through Her Food and Culture
10-14-2017
A single vial of snakebite antivenom can cost thousands of dollars.
Snakebite Deaths In Africa
Africa has an abundance of dangerous venomous
snakes and snakes could be anywhere, which means they are everywhere. Despite
the high rates of death and disability from snakebites in Africa, it remains a
significant burden to Africa’s poor women and children, agricultural workers, hunters, and farmers.
Though the exact number of snakebites is unknown,
in Africa, there are well over a half a million snakebites yearly that need
treatment. Up to 140,000 people die each year because of snakebites, and around
400,000 amputations and other permanent disabilities are caused by snakebites each
year.
Bites by venomous snakes can cause paralysis that
may prevent breathing, bleeding disorders that can lead to a fatal hemorrhage,
irreversible kidney failure and tissue damage that can cause permanent disability
and limb amputation. Agricultural workers and children are the most affected.
Children often suffer more severe effects than adults, due to their smaller
body mass.
Shortage of Antivenins
Africa has an abundance of dangerous venomous
snakes and snakes could be anywhere, which means they are everywhere.
Antivenin is a medication made from antibodies
that is used to treat certain venomous bites and stings. A significant
challenge in manufacturing of antivenins in Africa is the preparation of the
correct snake venoms.
Right now, very few countries are able to produce
snake venoms of acceptable quality for antivenins, in addition, these antivenins
may not properly reflect the geographical variation that occurs in the venoms
of some widespread species. In addition, lack of regulatory capacity for the
control of antivenins in countries with significant snakebite problems results
in an inability to assess the quality and appropriateness of the antivenins.
The price of some antivenin products has
dramatically increased in the last 25 years, making treatment unaffordable for
the majority of those who need it. However, the cost of actually making the
antivenin adds up to roughly one-tenth of one percent of the total cost. A
combination of factors has led to the present snakebite crisis in Africa. Without
access to the only effective treatment, antivenin, the death rate will remain high
from snakebites, with survivors often suffering life-altering disability
List of dangerous snakes and important venomous snakes in the Africa to create antivenin, the Puff Adder is the snake responsible for most deaths.
1. Anchieta's Cobra
2. Ashe's Spitting Cobra
3. Banded Water Cobra
4. Bibron's Burrowing
Asp
5. Big-Headed Carpet
Viper
6. Black Mamba
7. Black Tree Cobra
8. Black-Necked Spitting
Cobra
9. Boomslang
10. Broadley's Bush
Viper
11. Burton's Carpet
Viper
12. Cape Cobra
13. Christy's Water
Cobra
14. Desert Cobra
15. Desert Viper
16. East African Carpet
Viper
17. East African Gabon
Viper
18. Eastern Green
Mamba
19. Egyptian Cobra
20. Ethiopian Mountain
Adder
21. False Burrowing
Asp
22. Field's Horned
Viper
23. Forest Cobra
24. Forest Vine Or
Twig Snake
25. Gold's Tree
Cobra
26. Horned Viper
27. Hughes' Carpet
Viper
28. Israeli Mole
Viper
29. Jameson's Mamba
30. Joger's Carpet
Viper
31. Lataste's Viper
32. Levant Viper
33. Lowland Swamp
Viper
34. Moorish Viper
35. Mozambique Spitting
Cobra
36. Mozambique Vine
Snake
37. Nubian Spitting
Cobra
38. Puff Adder
39. Red Spitting
Cobra
40. Rhinoceros Viper
41. Rinkhals Spitting
Cobra
42. Savanna Vine
Or Twig Snake
43. Senegalese Cobra
44. Snouted Cobra
45. Usambara Vine
Snake
46. Variable Burrowing
Asp
47. Variable Bush
Viper
48. West African Brown
Spitting Cobra
49. West African Bush
Viper
50. West African Carpet
Viper
51. West African Gabon
Viper
52. Western Green
Mamba
53. White-Bellied
Carpet Viper
54. Zebra Cobra
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Did you know?
A knowledge of which species of venomous snakes present the greatest risks to human populations in any particular region or country is essential to addressing snakebite problems.
A knowledge of which species of venomous snakes present the greatest risks to human populations in any particular region or country is essential to addressing snakebite problems.
