Snakebite News

A man in Adelaide, Australia, was bitten by a suspected venomous snake. (News source.)

An Australia snake park operator was bitten by an eastern brown snake. (News source.)

A curious Labrador retriever brought home a live venomous snake. (News source.)

Rattlesnakes vs Denim

A new study shows that denim clothing often reduces the amount of venom released by a rattlesnake during a bite. (Abstract; via Zach Barton)

Herp Attacks

A South African woman was killed by a crocodile while she was swimming in a river. (News source.)

A Czech man was hospitalized after being bitten by his pet puff adder, and he was bitten a few weeks ago by another venomous species. (News source.)

5 young children in Uganda were apparently killed by the same venomous snake when they went to get water from Lake Victoria. (News source.)

Bad Suggestion for Snakebite

As any competent herpetologist knows, you really can't suck venom out of a snakebite. While it is great that a Florida man survived a cottonmouth bite without losing his arm, the treatment his roommate used and the newspaper features is outdated and dangerous. The focus should have been on the antivenom the man received; getting to a hospital as quickly as possible is the only thing a snakebite victim should be focusing on. (News source.)

Albino Small-Eyed Snake

An albino small-eyed snake was discovered just south of the Gold Coast (Australia), and has been returned to the wild. (News source. Photo: Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary)

Toxic Changes

The venom for shrews and beaded lizards derived from similar changes to a harmless digestive enzyme. (Eurekalert.)

Lesser-Known Venomous Snakes

A grant has been won by two researchers (one being Dr. Bryan Fry, University of Melbourne) to investigate the venom of Australia's lesser-known venomous snakes. (News source.)

Snakebites & Antivenom

A Florida coral snake bite got a bit tense as antivenom was delayed. (News source.)

No snakebite, fortunately, but a woman picked up a coral snake by accident in a Texas church, thinking it was a rosary. (News source.)

An Iraqi girl was helped with expert advice from the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue's Antivenom Unit. (News source.)

Some Envenomations

A man was bitten by his pet beaded lizard. (News source.)

A Texas man was bitten by a rattlesnake. (News source.)

Three snakebite deaths were reported from India. (News source.)

Venomous Snakes in the Middle East

"Swarms of snakes" in Iraq are moving to new areas due to drought, and end up biting livestock and people. (News source.)

And, an RAF crew in Kandahar had to deal with a viper during a rocket attack. They did manage to relocate it unharmed. (News source.)

European Snake Farm

A German firm is building a snake breeding farm for venom extraction for the drug and beauty isndustries. (News source.)

Venomous Snakes in the News

A Chinese man tried to suck the venom out of a snake bite on his wife's leg, but ended up getting sick from that. (News source.)

Spanish police are refusing to confiscate a man's pythons, boas, and rattlesnake until antivenom is on hand, after the man himself was bitten. (News source.)

Komodos Have Venom Glands

Bryan Fry has confirmed the presence of venom glands in Komodo dragons: "magnetic resonance imagery has for the first time uncovered venom glands containing a shock-inducing poison which increases blood flow and decreases blood pressure. (News source.)

Snake Hunter / Venom Extractor

A Thai snake hunter / rescuer is profiled here.

A Florida man is setting up a facility (Reptile Discovery Center) where visitors can watch venom extraction. (News source.)

Snake Venom News

An article on the Global Snakebite Initiative, here.

And, the southern Pacific rattlesnake may be becoming more toxic. (News source.)

Antivenom Trouble

Turns out that saw-scaled vipers that eat scorpions are more toxic than those that eat mammals or reptiles. Antivenom currently in production only works on bites by the latter. (News source.)

Tail Loss to Prevent Envenomation

Lizards lose their tails to predators primarily due to the potential for snakes to envenomate them. (News source.)

Coral Snake Antiserum Research

Details on some interesting research on antiserum for Micrurus corallinus here.

"Besides an improvement in our knowledge of the composition of coral snake venoms, which are very poorly known when compared to Old World elapids, the expression profile suggests abundant and diversified components that may be used in future antiserum formulation. As recombinant production of venom antigens frequently fails due to complex disulfide arrangements, DNA immunization may be a viable alternative.
"In fact, the selected candidates provided an initial evidence of the feasibility of this approach, which is less costly and not dependent on the availability of the venom."

Saving the AZ Poison & Drug Info Center

A poorly-considered legislative move in Arizona could spell the end for the AZ Poison and Drug Information Center, considered a key educational, research, and consultive facility for (among other things) venomous animal bites/stings. Info here. News story on this here.

Venomous News

An Australian man was bitten by a brown snake on a Gold Coast beach. (News source.)

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.)