Gripping the deadly snake behind its jaws, Fabiola de Souza massaged its venom glands to squeeze out drops that would save lives across Brazil, where thousands of people are bitten every year.
De Souza and her colleagues at the Instituto Butantan in Sao Paulo harvest the toxin from hundreds of snakes kept in captivity to produce antivenom, which is distributed by the Brazilian Ministry of Health to medical facilities nationwide.
Dozens of poisonous snake species, including the jararaca, thrive in Brazil’s hot and humid climate.
Photo: AFP
Nearly 29,000 people were bitten last year and more than 100 died, official figures showed.
States with the highest rates of snakebite were in the vast and remote Amazon basin, where it can take hours to reach a hospital stocked with antivenom.
Venom is extracted from each snake once a month in a delicate and potentially dangerous process.
Using a hooked stick, De Souza carefully lifted one of the slithering creatures out of its plastic box and maneuvered it into a drum of carbon dioxide. Within minutes, the reptile was asleep.
“It’s less stress for the animal,” De Souza said.
The snake was then placed on a stainless steel bench in the room, where the temperature hovers at about 27°C. De Souza had a few minutes to safely extract the venom before the snake began to stir.
“It’s important to have fear, because when people have fear they are careful,” she said.
The snakes are fed a diet of rats and mice that are raised at the leafy institute and killed before being served up once a month.
After milking the snake, De Souza recorded its weight and length before placing it back in its container.
The antivenom is made by injecting small amounts of the poison into horses — kept by Butantan on a farm — to trigger an immune response that produces toxin-attacking antibodies.
Blood is later extracted from the hoofed animals and the antibodies harvested to create a serum that can be administered to snakebite victims, who might otherwise die.
Butantan project manager Fan Hui-wen said that the institute makes all of the country’s antivenom — about 250,000 10ml to 15ml vials per year.
Brazil also donates small quantities of antivenom to several countries in Latin America. There are now plans to sell the life-saving serum abroad to help relieve a global shortage, particularly in Africa.
About 5.4 million people are estimated to be bitten by snakes every year, WHO data showed.
Between 81,000 and 138,000 die, while many more suffer amputations and other permanent disabilities as a result of the toxin.
To cut the number of deaths and injuries, the WHO earlier this year unveiled a plan that includes boosting production of quality antivenoms.
Brazil is part of the strategy. It could begin to export antivenom as early as next year, Fan said.
“There is interest for Butantan to also supply other countries due to the global crisis of antivenom production,” she said.
Crowds in Bangladesh are flocking to snap photographs with an unlikely social media star — an albino buffalo with flowing blond hair nicknamed “Donald Trump” that is due to be sacrificed within days. Owner Zia Uddin Mridha, 38, said his brother named the 700kg bull over its flowing helmet of hair resembling the signature look of the US president. “My younger brother picked this name because of the buffalo’s extraordinary hair,” he said at his farm in Narayanganj, just outside the capital, Dhaka. Mridha said that a constant stream of curious visitors — social media fans, onlookers and children — have come throughout
It began as a satirical online project. Now millions of young people in India are flocking to it as an outlet for their frustration. A parody political party called the Cockroach Janta Party, with the insect as its symbol, has exploded across India’s social media by turning absurdist humor into protest. Memes and short videos mocking corruption, joblessness and political dysfunction have flooded social media sites, where millions of users are embracing the cockroach — known for its ability to survive harsh conditions — as a tongue-in-cheek symbol of endurance. The online movement’s rise has been unusually rapid. The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)
HOTTER: While Indians are accustomed to summer heat, climate change has caused northwestern India to warm faster than other parts of the country, an academic said Roads and markets have emptied during afternoons and some farmers have switched to nighttime work to avoid scorching temperatures as a heat wave grips large parts of India. The India Meteorological Department forecast maximum temperatures for yesterday of about 45°C in the capital, New Delhi, where authorities have opened temporary “cooling zones” to help people cope. The weather department warned that conditions would likely persist across several northern regions in the coming days, with temperatures staying well above seasonal averages. Authorities urged people to stay indoors during the hottest hours and take precautions against heat-related illnesses. India declares a heat wave whenever maximum temperatures
A Hong Kong astronaut is to join a Chinese space mission for the first time as part of a three-person crew launching today, as Beijing edges closer to its goal of landing people on the moon. The Tiangong space station — crewed by teams of three astronauts that are typically rotated every six months — is the crown jewel of China’s space program, boosted by billions in state investment in a bid to catch up with the US and Russia. The Shenzhou-23 mission is to blast off at 11:08pm from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China, carrying three astronauts to
RSS