Coral snake bites about to become more dangerous

[Pedaling Fool]

More hype. More of a let's spread the fear article! Seems to be a hot thing to do lately in the media, especially on made in Hollywood made for TV ratings adventure type shows set to hyped music scores and narrated by an overly-dramatic-raise the-hype actor - spread the fear by way of ignorance of any animal that MIGHT pose a risk to humans! Have you heard some of the overly dramatic background music scores and equally overly dramatic over-the-top hype-it-up narrators on TV shows, even documentaries, lately? I've noticed several TV shows specifically aimed at spreading fear of animals - whether it be venemous snakes, alligators, bears, etc.

I've seen many coral snakes in Fl. None of them were agressive. As some others have posted, most cases of the snakes biting people were when the snakes were purposely being handled or when the snakes were suddenly disturbed, like when picking up a potted plant that had been outdoors. The snakes have a small mouth, are rear fanged, and unless they can find a place to hold down and get a good bite, like between toes or fingers, they can't inject that much venom. They are very susceptible to cold spells, making them very unlikely to strike in colder months.

***
Coral snakes tend to be relatively shy creatures, and bites are uncommon. Coral snakes account for fewer than 1% of venomous snakebites in the United States. Most people bitten by coral snakes are handling them intentionally. Most bites occur in the spring or fall.
Pathophysiology


The coral snake venom apparatus is composed of a pair of small, fixed, hollow fangs in the anterior aspect of the upper jaw through which the snake conducts venom via a chewing motion. Unlike pit vipers, such as rattlesnakes, copperheads, and cottonmouths, which strike quickly, coral snakes must hang on for a brief period to achieve significant envenomation in humans.

Coral snake venoms tend to have significant neurotoxicity, inducing neuromuscular dysfunction. They have little enzymatic activity or necrotic potential compared with most vipers and pit vipers. These venoms tend to be some of the most potent found in snakes, yet the venom yield per animal is less than that of most vipers or pit vipers. Because of the relatively primitive venom delivery apparatus, as many as 60% of those bitten by North American coral snakes are not envenomed.

Frequency

United States

***Probably fewer than 20 bites per year (though 99 alleged bites were reported to the American Association of Poison Control Centers in 2004).<A href="javascript:showcontent('active','references' );">1
Mortality/Morbidity

NO(NO)*** deaths related to coral snake bites have been reported in the United States since coral snake antivenom became available. Before that time, the estimated case-fatality rate was 10%,*** and the cause of death was respiratory or cardiovascular failure. Patients who survive the bite may require respiratory support for up to a week and may suffer persistent weakness for weeks to month.

*Taken from WEB MD.

Just because an article evokes fear does not mean it's fear-mongering. Anyone can nit-pick any written article including that article, but it is well written and not full of hype. And it's backed up by my .edu website I referenced.

I agree that there's plenty of fear-mongering going on in the movies, on TV in the form of "documentaries" and elsewhere, but not in that article, so just stop it because you are scaring yourself. And there is no conspriacy here.

The only real question here is, Why was this article in Popular Mechanics

[Pedaling Fool]

most bites are from picking up potted plants they hide under them.get pinched and struck out .when you pick up a 10 inch pot its one hand on the rim and fingers under the bottom.pow finger nip. the only ones i have ever seen were under pots.cool,damp,what else could you ask for in fla?wonderful snakes one of my favs

I do remember reading somewhere that gardners/landscapers are at the highest risk of being bitten by a coral snake. I still can't find that, but it does make sense, since drunks are less likely to happen upon a coral snake and gardners/landscapers are always putting their hands in areas where corals hangout. This should concern me, because I have perfect habitat in my yard for these snakes and I'm always sifting through leaf litter....

As I was looking for coral snake bite statistics I came across this, which is very interesting http://www.emedicinehealth.com/snakebite/article_em.htm


This is the most interesting statistic:

"Who snakes bite: It has been estimated that 5 million snakebites occur worldwide each year, causing about 125,000 deaths. Snakebites are more common in tropical regions and in areas that are primarily agricultural. In these areas, large numbers of people coexist with numerous snakes. Five to ten deaths occur per year from snakebite in the United States. People provoke bites by handling or even attacking snakes in a significant number of cases in the United States. Of the estimated 45,000 snakebites per year in the United States, about 8000 are by venomous snakes."

Highlights:
- 5 million snakebites per year worldwide.
- 125,000 deaths from snakebites per year worldwide.

- 45,000 snakebites per year in the U.S.
- 8,000 VENOMOUS snakebites per year in the U.S.
- 5 - 10 deaths from snakebites per year in the U.S.

[Dogwood]

Come on John Gault. It is you who is hyping up the dangers of being hurt, much less dying, from a coral snake. Stop taking worldwide venomous snakebite statistics and applying them as a norm to coral snakes. Even if we take your U.S. stats as being accurate 8000 venomous snakebites per yr and about 100(estimated) of those bites are from coral snakes that's about 1.25 % of all venomous snakebites occurring in the U.S. each year are from coral snakes. AND, I cant find ONE, that's 1, documented fatality in the U.S. from a coral snake in the last three yrs! If you want an accurate account of the POSSIBLE dangers of coral snakes look at the documented bite statistics and fatalities of that specific species in the southern U.S. Examine the geographical range, typical behavior, anatomy, and lack of agressiveness of coral snakes.

Who said anything about a conspiracy or myself being scared? If anything is true it's that I'm not afraid of being bitten by a coral snake and certainly not when I'm hiking. I'm also not afraid of being eaten by a shark while swimming in the oceans or mauled by a bear in Yellowstone NP while in my tent or being attacked by a swarm of killer bees in California.

I can understand your concern living in Atlantic Beach Fl which is within the geographical range of where coral snakes reside. I worked for over a decade in the landscape industry in Tampa, Ft Myers, and Homestead, all areas where coral snakes live. I picked up, transported, installed, and maintained literally 10,000's of containerized plants during that time. Of course, it was wise to watch where I was placing my hands when doing my work, and not just because of coral snakes. There were other vemomous creatures to be aware of too. I understand, just as it was a concern when I was doing my work, that you should be concerned when in your backyard picking up plants and doing yardwork where you live. BUT don't magnify an awareness(concern) into a preoccupied over-hyped fear(worry)!

[Tuckahoe]

Maybe I am slow and reading things wrong, but Ihave to say that I dont think that John is fear mongering. Rather my interpretation of that information is that the numbers of snake bites is rather small and something in the end that should not be feared.

What I took from the posting of the magazine article was along the lines "my God, oh no... the evil drug companies are going to kill people because they have cut back on antivenum production."

atleast my take...

[Pedaling Fool]

Not hyping anything, I just thought it was interesting; I wasn’t drawing any parallels between those statistics and coral snake bites. I understand that the chance of being bitten by a coral snake is extremely low and that’s why I understand (AND DO NOT CRITICIZE) the decision of the people that are charged with managing antivenin. And I also maintain that the article is not fear-mongering. There’s no hyperbole, no drama, just plain facts. Yes, there are aspects that can be nit-picked in the article, but overall it’s well written.

However, I did find one death associated with the coral snake; I know it’s a wiki article, so take it with a grain of salt, but I have no reason not to believe it. (Note: Obviously the article needs updating). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of..._United_States

I’ve been working in the yard all day and did not hesitate to put my bare hands in the leaf litter, pick up debris behind the shed, etc… However, I must admit, while I did not hesitate nor wear gloves, I was thinking about coral snakes ...... a lot

[Tinker]

Red touch yellow, kill a fellow.
Red touch black, you're all right, Jack.

http://www.aaanimalcontrol.com/blog/...ch-yellow.html

I heard
"Red on yellow, kill a fellow,
Red on black, venom lack".

Funny how so few people are aquainted with woods lore. I had a woman from church ask me "Where's the red" when I showed her poison ivy leaves (she has two young boys). I told her that she wouldn't be seeing that until the fall.
From what I understand of coral snakes, they have small fangs in the back of their mouths (unless I have them mixed up with gila monsters). It would be tough to get fatally bitten if that's the case.

[Mr.Keel]

i have always wondered if I were to be bit by a venomous snake, would it benefit me to get the snake after the initial bite and bring it with me to the hospital? Would that make a difference? Also does it matter if the snake is dead or alive?

[Spokes]

Never saw one coral snake on the trail last year.

[Bronk]

well on the topic of reptiles from Fl killing people lets talk about all the unreported deaths every year from alligator attacks in the New York City sewers. One of the reasons that the MTA may be going broke is all the money they pay out to settle these cases and keep them out of the media.

Something similar is going on with the bigfoot reports...if it were acknowledged that they really do exist then they would be paying out a lot of money in lawsuits.

[Graywolf]

I heard
"Red on yellow, kill a fellow,
Red on black, venom lack".

Funny how so few people are aquainted with woods lore. I had a woman from church ask me "Where's the red" when I showed her poison ivy leaves (she has two young boys). I told her that she wouldn't be seeing that until the fall.
From what I understand of coral snakes, they have small fangs in the back of their mouths (unless I have them mixed up with gila monsters). It would be tough to get fatally bitten if that's the case.

So many takes on the same riddle. When i worked at the Dallas Zoo as a reptile keeper, we had a display set up about venomous snakes in the area. Our take was:

'Red Touchin Yello, kill'a fellow
"Red Touchin Black, Friendly Jack..

Actually, the Coral snakes mouth is so small, it would really have to work to get it's fangs in you. The Coral Snake is rear fanged, unhinged and pointed backwards. used to grip its prey while constricting. Whereas the vipers being front fanged, are hinged and used to kill its prey while it waits for the venom to take effect. The Coral snake would have to hit an area such as the "webskin" between the fingers, or the small toes and pinky.. Being rearfanged, it would really have to work its way down to actually hit you with venom..They really are very docile animals..

Oh, just for a little trivia, the first death of the Civil War was from a Coral Snake bite, not a bullet...Go figure...

Graywolf

[Frosty]

NO(NO)*** deaths related to coral snake bites have been reported in the United States since coral snake antivenom became available.

Umm, the point of the article is that antivenom is no longer available in this country.

[Pedaling Fool]

If you're planning on playing with any snakes, don't play with coral snakes because the antivenin is now expired...Just a friendly reminder

http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/al...ake-anti-venom

Luckily this little tike got bit before the current stock expired http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2012/...oral-snake-bi/

[Another Kevin]

The expiration date is extended again. http://www.fda.gov/BiologicsBloodVac.../ucm325899.htm

[Pedaling Fool]

Hmmm, this is what my link said in post #32:


"If you're thinking about being bitten by a coral snake in the United States, you may want to do so before the end of the month. October 31, 2012 is the extended-extended-extended-expiration date for batch 4030026 of the only FDA-approved antivenin for coral snake bites. (Antivenin shortages are not uncommon, surprisingly enough.)"

They're going to have to make a correction and say, "extended-extended-extended-extended expiration...."

[christoba123]

If you are bitten by a coral snake, you messed up. In fact, if you are bitten by just about any of them, you messed up. Note, I was tagged by a cotton mouth and I had messed up. I was lucky though, it was a dry strike.

[FatHead64]

FWIW - I work for Pfizer and my plant is now making Coral Snake Anti-Venin. At least, we are about to. The project has essentially closed and demo batches and such are complete. I suspect we are only awaiting FDA approval to produce. Not too plugged into the regulatory side - I support manufacturing.

[Bronk]

Do you know if Pfizer is making other antivenins? I thought I had read somewhere about rattlesnake and others that were in the same situation as coral snake antivenin.

[Pedaling Fool]

Darn! All this social commentary and writing about Nature...in Popular Mechanics?

I woulda subscribed if I'd known... All these years wasted with Popular Science...

FB

I also thought that was kind of strange

Hey, they're at it again. Why aren't these stories in Popular Science

This article talks about just how difficult it is to make antivenom. http://www.popularmechanics.com/scie...ng-out#slide-1

And this is an interesting blurb on milking venom from spiders http://news.nationalgeographic.com/n...r_venom_2.html


Excerpt:

"Kristensen has been raising and "milking" spiders for their venom for almost 25 years. His office has 50,000 spiders representing about 50 different species. Milking their venom is labor intensive.

"To get one gram [three-hundredths of an ounce] of black widow venom, it takes 50,000 to 100,000 milkings. One milking takes one minute. So it can take us a year to get one gram," he said."



It is funny when you look at all our advancements in various areas of endeavor, yet other areas, such as this, remain basically the same for over 100 years.