U.S. surge in exotic snakes rattles some
By Oren Dorell, USA TODAY
Bitten by an African green mamba, a 47-year-old man at Indianapolis' Methodist Hospital was having difficulty speaking and problems moving his eyes and legs.
Emergency room physician Mary Wermuth had no anti-venin to help the man, whose rare pet snake was among the world's deadliest. Wermuth immediately went to her computer and consulted the online Anti-venom Index to find the nearest source of an antidote.
"It was a couple of taps at the keyboard and we found it was at the local zoo," she said.
The member-controlled index went online in 2006, connecting hospitals with rare anti-venins. But now the program faces new challenges.
An influx of exotic snakes into the United States, coupled with a drugmaker's decision to stop making anti-venin for a snake found throughout the South, is putting pressure on toxicologists who try to prevent painful deaths by snake bite.
Last month, several U.S. toxicologists met in New Orleans to make plans to revamp the anti-venin index to monitor snake bites occurring by type and region. Doing so could help place anti-venin where non-native snakes — often kept illegally as pets — are prevalent.
Bites from non-native snakes — often more lethal than native snakes' bites — are rare but on the rise. In 1996, there were 33 such bites; in 2004, the latest year for which statistics are available, there were 52, says Steven Seifert, a physician who recently received a $375,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to improve the Anti-venom Index. Among those biting victims, three died.
Most hospitals stock anti-venin for snakes prevalent nearby. But anti-venin for foreign species, such as cobras, boomslangs and green mambas, often is kept only at zoos housing such species, he says.
An additional 50 to 75 people are bitten by coral snakes every year. Wyeth Pharmaceuticals announced in 2003 it was going to stop making the antidote in part because demand was small. But it has stocks remaining for at least a year, according to company spokeswoman Natalie deVane.
That presents another problem for the Anti-venom Index. Jay Schauben, director of the Florida-U.S. Virgin Islands Poison Information Center in Jacksonville, said hospital supplies across the country are now expiring and "almost impossible to find."
The search is on for a suitable replacement, said George Van Horn, owner of Reptile World Serpentarium in St. Cloud, Fla. This week, Van Horn will begin experiments with the University of Florida on whether hospitals can use anti-venin from Mexican and Costa Rican coral snakes to treat bites from coral snakes here.
But a wider problem for hospitals, and the Anti-venom Index, could be how to prepare for snakes that communities don't know are there.
Jude McNally, managing director of the Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center, said cases of snake bites are not being reported to a central authority.
"When we go to treat (victims of snake bites), we're not addressing the issue of reporting this to anyone," McNally said. "Our emphasis is to treat the patient."
No one knows how many exotic snakes are in the country, McNally said.
The federal government does not monitor how many venomous snakes are brimported the United States because there are no federal restrictions on their importation, said Sandy Cleva, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service law enforcement division.
Half of states require permits for the possession of non-native venomous snakes, according to a survey conducted by Ray Hunter, a Florida snake importer and researcher who posted the information to his website, cobraman.net.
McNally, whose state of Arizona requires a permit for exotic species of snake, said he and others believe there are significant numbers of snakes being obtained illegally from importers and breeders.
The laws don't seem to be much of an impediment, said Walter Cook, captive-wildlife coordinator for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, who participated in a nine-month investigation into venomous reptile traffickers.
Cook said his investigation netted more than 100 poisonous snakes, about half of which were non-U.S. species. Most were bought from U.S. breeders and most purchases were conducted on the Internet and at reptile shows in states where sales are legal. Sellers ship snakes to airports in states where permits are not required, Cook said.
"No one's slacked off on importing," said Hunter, who legally imported 2,500 snakes last year.
Ten days ago, one of Hunter's snakes provided a frightening lesson in the dangers of reptiles as pets; an eastern diamondback rattlesnake bit him.
On Sunday, Hunter's condition was upgraded from critical condition to stable at St. Lucie Medical Center where he has undergone anti-venin treatment and surgery.
"It's just like any job hazard," said his associate Ray Goushaw, president of St. Lucie Regional Herpetological Society. "It's when you become complacent that you have a problem."
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/...4-Snakes_N.htm
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BITS OF ADVICE
Medical experts are working to make antidote more widely available for people bitten by non-native breeds of snakes, such as cobras or green mambas. Some facts about exotic snake bites, 1999-2004:
Who's most often bitten and where (based on almost 400 bites reported between 1995 and 2004):
• 85% adult
• 84% male
• 76% inside their own homes
• 11.5% at workplace, school or zoo
• 4.5% at another residence
What not to do:
• Cut the wound or flesh around it with a knife
• Suck out the venom
• Apply ice or immerse wound in water
• Allow the victim to drink alcohol or caffeine
What to do:
• Remove clothing and jewelry from affected area
• Apply bandage 2-4 inches above and below bite, leaving enough room between skin and bandage for a finger to slip through
• Apply splint to affected area
• Get victim to a hospital
Sources: Steven Seifert, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Army
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