THE STAR (Johannesburg, S Africa) 05 January 05 Joburg residents are at the mercy of snakes (Kashiefa Ajam)
You may be a war-worn soldier of Johannesburg's urban jungle with your pepper spray and anti-theft devices - but beware.
Many poisonous snakes are found in suburban gardens and homes - and if you're the unlucky individual who gets bitten, you could die because many urban hospitals do not keep anti-venom. It's simply too expensive.
Take the case of a snake-bite victim who arrived at Edenvale Hospital last month complaining of anxiety, reduced limb movement and blurred vision. Hospital chief executive Norman Kernes confirmed that, as Edenvale did not have anti-venom, they called Johannesburg Hospital - but it also didn't have any.
The Edenvale clinical staff decided to transfer the patient to Johannesburg Hospital anyway, as there were specialists there to treat his symptoms. But the ambulance returned when the patient's condition became critical en route, and Kernes said 30 minutes later the man was certified dead.
Popa Maja, spokesperson for the Gauteng department of health, said snakebites were "very, very rare", but he was confident that all hospitals were equipped to handle them as they would "any other emergency situation".
"They do all stock anti-venom, but in very limited amounts due to the urban nature of the province," said Maja.
Staff at Helen Joseph Hospital, in Westdene, Johannesburg, checked their stock and said they didn't have any anti-venom, but then called back later to say they "had found one".
Chris Hani Baragwanath staff said they don't stock anti-venom. Bedford Gardens staff, on the East Rand, said "should the need arise, they can obtain it immediately".
Mandy Tompkins, a representative from Netcare, said not all hospitals in their group stocked anti-venom, but in the event of a snakebite, officials "would know" which hospitals did stock it.
Mark Perry, who runs African Reptile and Venom, is insistent that Johannesburg hospitals should keep anti-venom as there is plenty available, "but, unfortunately, many hospitals are not prepared to invest a couple of thousand rand in anti-venom - even if it's just in case".
Perry added that many doctors were unsure of how to use anti-venom, which has a shelf-life of 36 months. At least six to 10 ampules, at R467 each, are usually required to treat a serious bite.
The Anti-Venom Unit in Johannesburg stocks anti-venom for all indigenous snakes. But Roger Blaylock, of the Leslie Williams Private Hospital in Carletonville, who works with the unit, warned that there is no anti-venom for exotic snakes, such as the cottonmouth, which was responsible for the death of snake lover Patricia Cook a fortnight ago. This is one of the most popular foreign snakes kept in suburban homes.
Fortunately, Blaylock said fewer than one in 10 snakebite patients require anti-venom: "Compared to other diseases, this is not a major problem," he said.
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THE STAR (Johannesburg, S Africa) 05 February 05 Sneaky slitherers invade South African market (Kashiefa Ajam and Lauren Mannering)
Exotic venomous snakes are flooding the local market and one, at least, has killed its owner, yet there is no law to prevent South Africans from keeping them at home.
At the same time, the law says it is illegal to keep indigenous snakes and, amid all this confusion, it seems many - if not most - South African hospitals do not stock anti-venom to treat snake-bites. The reason? It costs too much.
Two weeks ago, the blackened and badly decomposed body of Pietermaritzburg snake-lover Patricia Cook was found, with all the indications she had been bitten by a highly poisonous cottonmouth - a snake native to the United States - which she had kept as a pet, along with 12 other snakes.
Cook - who also kept deadly puff-adders (Bitis arietans) - was said to be so protective of her pet snakes that she had told a neighbour she would prefer to die of snakebite.
Johan Marais, author of several books on snakes and other reptiles, says that, judging from the amount of snakes he and other experts have caught over the past year, the South African market is indeed being flooded with deadly snakes from abroad - and they are breeding.
"An exotic venomous snake can cost between R200 and R800. It is high time the government looked very seriously at this issue," Marais said. "It is crazy that we can keep snakes that can kill us but we can't keep ones that pose no threat to us,"
Durban herpetologist Mark Enslin recalled this week that he met Cook three years ago when she first got the dangerous cottonmouth.
"She called me after a friend from Zimbabwe who had been staying with her for a while had left two cottonmouths with her.
"The friend had disappeared and she could not reach him. When I arrived at her home, she said I should take one of them and insisted that she wanted to keep one."
Enslin said he warned her about the extreme danger of keeping such lethal reptiles, although he knew that Cook loved them.
"That was the last I heard of her until the police called me about her death. I had my son with me when we went to her home, and he helped me handle the other snakes while we secured the house because the police would not enter unless all the snakes were out of the way."
An autopsy could not be performed on Cook because she had been dead five days when her body was discovered and decomposition had set in.
Neighbours described Cook as a lonely, somewhat eccentric woman who enjoyed sharing her home with deadly reptiles. She even had breeding rats in her bathroom to feed her pets.
"There is no doubt that she was an animal lover, but it is that love that led to her tragic death," said Enslin.
Marais said that in his experience most people who kept exotic snakes had unusual tastes.
"Although there are those who are genuinely interested in snakes, the majority are attention-seekers," he said. "If they sit with a snake round their neck, they feel like a million bucks. The sad truth is that any venomous snake will eventually bite you."
Marais said he could not stress enough that there was no such thing as a "tame" snake: "Most people think that because they have handled a snake for a long time it is tame.
"They are wrong. The snake only gets used to being handled but eventually it will escape or just bite its owner. They are very secretive and sly creatures, especially exotic venomous snakes."
Marais said the fact that Cook's body had blackened by the time it was found indicated that she had been bitten by the cottonmouth.
"In defence, cottonmouths open their mouths very wide to frighten their enemies. The inside of their mouths is white and looks like cotton wool. This is where it gets its name.
"The cottonmouth will strike more than once. It emits cytotoxic venom, which is cell-destroying. But its venom is slow-reacting. Cook must have experienced lots of pain and swelling and she probably died a very slow and painful death."
Marais boasted that he had handled hundreds of poisonous reptiles over 20 years but never been bitten.
"I have just been very careful. I am fascinated by reptiles, but I know enough to respect them. Contrary to popular belief, a snake will never recognise you just because you feed it and clean its space every day. It is going to bite you one day - and there is a good chance that you will die."
The five deadliest charmers
Cape Cobra
Found throughout western South Africa.
Neurotoxic venom.
Treat with a pressure bandage, immobilise the limb, transport the person to hospital immediately and support breathing.
Black Mamba
Found in North West, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal.
Virulently neurotoxic venom.
Treat with a pressure bandage, immobilise the limb, transport the bite victim to hospital as fast as possible.
Rinkhals
Found in Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Free State, KwaZulu Natal, North West and Gauteng.
Neurotoxic venom.
Treat with a pressure bandage, immobilise the limb, transport the person to hospital.
Found in all areas of the country.
Cytotoxic venom.
Treat with a pressure bandage, immobilise the limb, transport the person to hospital.
Boomslang
Found in Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, Gauteng, Free State, KwaZulu Natal and North West.
Haemotoxic venom.
Treat the bite victim with a pressure bandage, immobilise the limb, transport the person to hospital.
Facts about snakes
- Humans kill many more snakes than snakes kill humans.
- You are statistically more likely to be struck by lightning or kicked to death by a donkey than to die of snakebite.
- More people die of human bites than of snakebites in South Africa.
- Leave the snake alone. Most bites occur when people try to kill snakes.
- Should you be bitten, remain as calm as possible. Panic and shock are bigger killers than venom.
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