My chui and livestock suffered an encounter. I ended up on a few forums on snake bites where victims post live request for help after being bitten.
Snake bites are fairly common. We are intruding on their territories building into formerly uninhabited areas. Our pets, livestock are bitten all the time, most of the time we don’t know because animals shut down their reactions( emotions) when injured, to prevent a predator detecting them.
Bites are almost always defensive. A comfort zone for a snake is about a meter. Inside that he will strike. And they always try to leave when a human approaches. It’s only when the encroachment is sudden, do they strike. Apart from a couple of species.
But there’s different types of venom. Neurotoxins and haemotoxins , plus others. Haemotoxins mess you up. They prevent your blood from clotting. You bleed internally to death. A boomslang ( common in Kenya), injects this kind of toxin.
Most snake bites don’t kill. Even from the most venomous snakes . Bite could be dry, maybe snake had recently eaten and his supply hasn’t been replenished. Or he doesn’t quite get a good grip on you before you fight him off. Also like a coral snake, he has to nibble because of position of his fangs.
But if they envenomate you, it’s best to have anti venom close by. If at least a way to monitor and correct your vitals. And medical personnel who have successfully treated snake bites, this is even crucial in the most advanced medical hospitals in the world. But anti-venom has to be specific to the snake. Believe it or not, anti venom from a Kenyan Black mamba may not be effective against a South African Black mamba. Theres a scientific reason behind this, I will explain in comments.
But how many anti-venom processing facilities do we have in Kenya? Venom harvesting is a very old procedure, over 130 years old.
Theres venom variation between same species of snakes. This is due to environment, and diet. Therefore anti-venin harvested for a particular snake, may not work for the same species of snake in a different environment. So Cobra anti-venom from India, many not work on a Kenyan Cobra bite.
But many ineffective products circulate in sub-Saharan Africa, said David Williams, head of the Australian Venom Research Unit.
“One Indian product marketed in Ghana as a replacement to Sanofi’s actually increased the death rate for snakebites,” he added.
So what of most anti-venom Kemsa supplies to our hospitals, may be ineffective. Its typically manufactured in India and China. Explains a mortality in places like Kitui.
Kitui kuna snake ya red with a black collar at the neck , Noma sana . It will bite you severally and chase you around.good thing is it ain’t that poisonous.
I invite you ukam B2 , @sani understands ujionee, by the end of the tour in all my shambas huko you will respect what I go through to put food in the table ( the hard way but si Ile ya @Weyn )
this is the snake . Hii mnakimbizana siku yote kama