The study estimates that more than a million Indians have died from snake coloring over the past two decades

India is among the countries heavily affected by snake bites and accounts for almost half of the total annual deaths in the world. Authors of the article under the title ‘Snake mortality trends in India from 2000 to 2019 in a nationally representative mortality study‘2,833 snake deaths from 611,483 verbal autopsies from an earlier study were analyzed¹ and conducted a systematic review of the literature for the period 2000-2019, covering 87,590 snake bites.

The authors estimate that 1.2 million snake deaths were recorded in India from 2000 to 2019 (representing an average of 58,000 per year), with almost half of the victims aged 30 to 69 and more than a quarter being children younger than 15 years.

People living in densely populated low-altitude agricultural areas in the states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh (which includes Telangana, a recently defined state), Rajasthan and Gujarat, suffered 70% of deaths during the period 2001-2014. ., Especially during the rainy season when snakes and humans meet more often at home and outdoors.

Russell’s Snake (Daboia russelii) (Figure 1), kraitsbungarus species) and cobrasGood species; Figure 2) belong to the most important snake species in India, but other often unidentified species also pose a threat.

Figure 1: Russell viper Figure 2: Field-shaped cube in a nearby field
(Source: David Williams / WHO) agricultural worker. (Source: Ben Owens)

The World Health Organization (WHO) has set a goal to halve the number of deaths due to snake enrichment by 2030, and India’s efforts to prevent and control the disease will greatly impact this global goal.

“Since mortality is generally limited to lower altitudes, intensively agricultural areas, during one season each year, this should facilitate the management of annual epidemics. A huge Indian burden of snakes is looking us in the face and we need to act now, Said Romulus Whitaker of the Center for Herpetology / Madras Crocodile Bank“By targeting these areas with education on simple methods, such as snake-safe harvesting practices, wearing rubber boots and gloves, and using rechargeable torches (or flashlights on mobile phones), the risk of snake bites could be reduced.”

The need for more national epidemiological studies in endemic snake countries

Additional nationally representative studies are needed, along with increased map resolution and accuracy of multi-source data, including hospital-based mortality and morbidity data, including those collected at the community level, for more targeted and effective public health interventions in other endemic snake countries.

The authors also noted that the official report of Indian snake deaths in public hospitals between 2003 and 2015 was only 15,500, a tenth of the 154,000 snake deaths detected by the MDS in public and private hospitals during this same period.

“Our research directly quantified and identified the population most affected by deadly snake bites in India. We have shown that the overall life risk of killing snakes is approximately 1 in 250, but in some areas the risk of survival reaches 1 in 100“Said Prabhat Jha, director of the Center for Global Health Research at the University of Toronto in Canada. “Direct direct measurement of mortality at local levels is key to achieving the World Health Organization’s global roadmap. “

To correct this gross underestimation, the authors recommend that the Government of India designate and implement snake birds as a “notifiable disease” within an integrated disease surveillance program. Accurate data on snake animals are essential to the success of the Indian government’s death reduction strategies.