Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Salmonella Lawsuit
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Axolotl Research
Labels: medicine, research, salamander
Frogs Linked to Salmonella Outbreak
Labels: disease, frogs, medicine, salmonella
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Bad Suggestion for Snakebite
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Pythons in the Glades: Keep Out of the Kitchen
Labels: culinary, introduced, medicine, snakes
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Crocs in the News
A Congo fisherman was attacked by a crocodile, and ended up in a Texas hospital to have his arm reattached. (News source.)
Monday, May 25, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Gator Attack Victim Gets New Device
Herps and Culture
Frogs are an important traditional food source in Madagascar. (News source.)
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Venom Extraction for Cancer Researchers
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Amphibians
Researchers are looking at a compound in tadpoles as a potential resource to prevent skin cancer. (News source.)
Labels: amphibians, medicine, new species, research, toads
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Herp-Related Salmonella
[So don't slather your turtles in peanut butter...]
Labels: medicine, salmonella, turtle
Snakebites
A tiger snake bite victim is going through rehabilitation. (News source.)
A couple more Australian snake bites noted here.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Antivenom?
[Update: Per a recent comment, no, I'm not going to comment on their site. I've already sent a letter to their editor. I don't believe it is up to an online "community" to correct this sort of misinformation, (at most, we can bring issues to attention, and even then, public forums are low-rung options); it is up to medical professionals to correct medical information.]
Labels: antivenom, bite, dogs, medicine, snakes, veterinary medicine
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Venomous News
The drug Viprinex, using viper toxin to fight strokes, has been cancelled, failing a large drug trial. The CEO was retired/fired. (News source.)
A village in Thailand takes extra precautions for their king cobras, which they breed, during colder weather. (News source.)
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Snakebites: Neglected "Tropical Disease"
Three snakebites here from Australia.
A copperhead bit a young Texas boy. (News source.)
A young Australian teenager survived a tiger snake bite, when it fortunately didn't envenomate. (News source.)
A new report calls snakebites a "neglected tropical disease," which kills up to 94,000 victims a year. (News source.)
Labels: bite, medicine, rattlesnake, snakes
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Parasites Continue to Kill
Monday, June 30, 2008
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Snakebite News
A 12-year old North Carolina girl was treated for a copperhead bite on her ankle. (News source.)
A 3-year old Florida boy was treated for a pygmy rattlesnake bite. (News source.)
Details are pending, but a North Carolina woman may have died due to a rattlesnake bite this past Memorial Day. (News source.)
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Rattlesnake Bites Getting Worse?
Labels: bite, medicine, rattlesnake, snakes, venom
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Viprinex Trials
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Pig-Frog Leg Alert
Monday, April 7, 2008
Gator Blood Fights Disease
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Plastic Surgery for Cobra Victim
Monday, March 17, 2008
Madagascar Hissers & Mold
Monday, March 10, 2008
Toads vs Cancer
Friday, March 7, 2008
Snake Venoms
An article here on Viprinix, an experimental drug to dissolve blood clots, using the venom of the Malaysian pit viper.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Frogs Against Diabetes
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Gecko-Mimicking Bandages
Labels: biomimicry, gecko, lizard, medicine
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Snakebite Treatment Tragedy
Friday, February 15, 2008
More Antivenom News
Second, the Echitab Study Group, with UK support, will be setting up an antivenom production facility in Gombe, Nigeria, with governmental approval. (News source.)
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Scorpion Venom for Medicine
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Reptile Encounters
An Israeli man milking venom at the country's only venom extraction facility was bitten by a viper. He was hospitalized, and experienced severe symptoms: "He vomited, had abdominal pain, and his blood pressure went dangerously low. Soon, the palm of the bitten hand became severely swollen, causing the doctors to fear that the swelling could spread throughout his body." Antivenom stabilized him, and the arm was saved. (News source.)
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Doesn't Sound Good...
A WHO medical expert says most bites are treated according to the procedures found in Western medical texts, which aren't always applicable to the "reality" (not sure what that means) in Asian countries. (News source.)
Friday, January 25, 2008
Snakebites
Snakebites in Ghana may be under-reported. (News source.)
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Malaysia: Death by Toad
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Sea Turtle Stories
A documentary in the making focuses on 25 years in the life of a loggerhead sea turtle. (News source.)
Three people in Kenya died after eating the meat of an endangered sea turtle. (No mention of what tainted the meat.) (News source.)
Labels: conservation, media, medicine, sea turtle
Thursday, December 20, 2007
The Cost of a Snakebite
Labels: bite, medicine, rattlesnake, snakes
Croc News
The Taiwanese veterinarian who lost his arm to a crocodile has had it reattached. (News source.)
A Russian crocodile smuggler was caught red-handed at the Cairo International Airport with baby crocs, turtles, and lizards. He was deported, and the animals confiscated. (News source.)
Labels: caiman, conservation, crime, crocodile, medicine, smuggling
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Alligators & Anti-Scarring
Sunday, December 9, 2007
British Columbia Cobra Bite
Monday, November 26, 2007
Snakebite Stories
Hindu priests in Choto Pashla, India, say that cobra bites in their village must be treated traditionally; if they go to the hospital, it's "at their own risk." Villagers are torn, and government officials are puzzled as to why the traditional treatment seems to work some of the time (though not all the time). (News source.)
Australian doctors believe that too many deaths from brown snakes occur due to mishandling of treatment, and slow response after the bite to seek treatment. (News source.)
US Forces in Korea are warned not to play with snakes, as there are several venomous species in the area. One soldier was recently bitten by a viper while clearing brush. (News source.)
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Salmonella Death
Without trivializing the tragedy here, let me point out two things brought up by the article: 1) the problem here is not that a baby turtle was involved, but that a turtle of any size was brought into the home with an infant. All reptiles (and dogs, cats, etc.) have the potential for carrying salmonella. The rule about baby turtles is in place because small children have a bad habit of sticking things in their mouths; obviously, that wasn't a factor in this case. An infant is incapable of doing that, so it isn't the size of the turtle that is an issue. It's just a common sense health issue. Infants and reptiles (and most other pets) don't mix. 2) the ban on selling turtles under four inches is limited to business sales; the FDA has an exemption for non-commercial sales.
Labels: medicine
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
International Snakebites
There's a good bit of controversy over the death of a young boy in India who died from snakebite; the parents say the hospital refused to treat until they had enough money for a security deposit, and the doctors say the boy was brought in too late to save. (News source.)
Sunday, September 30, 2007
India Snakebites
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
The Cost of a Snakebite
Labels: bite, medicine, rattlesnake
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Bearded Dragon Emergency
Monday, September 17, 2007
Man Loses Arm to Gator
Friday, September 14, 2007
Frogs and Salamanders for Medical Research
Labels: amphibians, medicine
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Gila Monster Drug
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Teflon Frog Antibiotics
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Seattle Zoo Python Dies
Monday, July 16, 2007
Australian Navy Helps Sea Turtle
Labels: medicine, sea turtle
Friday, July 13, 2007
Anaconda Goes to the Vet
Labels: medicine
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Malayan Pit Viper Medicine
Friday, June 29, 2007
Frog Enzyme Fights Tumors
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Sea Turtle Surgery
Labels: medicine, sea turtle

