A mechanistic model of snakebite as a zoonosis: Envenoming incidence is driven by snake ecology, socioeconomics and its impacts on snakes

Abstract

Snakebite is the only WHO-listed, not infectious neglected tropical disease (NTD), although its eco-epidemiology is similar to that of zoonotic infections: envenoming occurs after a vertebrate host contacts a human. Accordingly, snakebite risk represents the interaction between snake and human factors, but their quantification has been limited by data availability. Models of infectious disease transmission are instrumental for the mitigation of NTDs and zoonoses. Here, we represented snake-human interactions with disease transmission models to approximate geospatial estimates of snakebite incidence in Sri Lanka, a global hotspot. Snakebites and envenomings are described by the product of snake and human abundance, mirroring directly transmitted zoonoses. We found that human-snake contact rates vary according to land cover (surrogate of occupation and socioeconomic status), the impacts of humans and climate on snake abundance, and by snake species. Our findings show that modelling snakebite as zoonosis provides a mechanistic eco-epidemiological basis to understand snakebites, and the possible implications of global environmental and demographic change for the burden of snakebite.

Who are the most affected by Bothrops snakebite envenoming in Brazil? A Clinical-epidemiological profile study among the regions of the country

“…in this state have not been previously addressed in the literature, however we can suggest some explanation for that. First, despite Minas Gerais is geographically situated in the Southeast of Brazil, the North of the state borders the Northeast of Brazil, and as well-known this region presents high temperatures throughout the year, which align with precipitation rates observed in summer and in the end of spring season, can contribute to the increase of Bothrops envenoming as has been seen in others subequatorial countries [ 66 – 68 ].…”

Snakebite Envenoming: A Comprehensive Review on Epidemiology, Diagnosis, Potential Treatments Role of Proteomics and Bioinformatics

“…In the middle of the night, patients who are bitten by kraits (Bungarus spp., family Elapidae) generally wake up aware that they have been bitten. Arthropod (such as a spider), lizard, rodent, or fish bites; hymenopteran (such as a scorpion or centipede) stings; or punctures caused by plant spine or thorn, nail, or other sharp object are all differentiating factors for snakebites [19,49]. It is possible that venomous or non-venomous snakes inflicted 'dry bites' (i.e.…”

“…This issue could be solved using machine learning-based classifiers. Machine learning tool Tox Classifier distinguishes between the toxin and non-toxin sequences, allowing toxin proteins to be assigned to the most appropriate family, increasing the quality of these existing databases [19,88].…”

“…It would appear that cardiovascular involvement is somewhat uncommon. However, when it does occur, it can lead to a broad variety of complications, including myocarditis, myocardial infarction, ventricular dysfunction, hypotension, and even cardiac arrest [19]. The cardiovascular symptoms were responsible for severe adverse outcomes in a sizeable number of the cases that were examined (24.39 percent) (cardiac arrest, myocardial infarction, malignant ventricular arrhythmias, or death) [20].…”

Prácticas populares de prevención y tratamiento del accidente ofídico en Petén, Guatemala: estudio fenomenológico

“…De las personas mordidas, hasta 2.7 millones resultan envenenadas, entre 81,000 y 138,000 mueren y muchas resultan con amputaciones o impedimentos físicos (World Health Organization [WHO], 2022). Las principales víctimas del accidente ofídico son los campesinos pobres de los países en vías de desarrollo (Goldstein et al, 2021;Harrison et al, 2009) pues se trata de una enfermedad ocupacional causada por determinantes ecológicos y socioeconómicos (Martín et al, 2022). Considerando la situación actual e histórica de esta enfermedad, la Organización Mundial de la Salud lanzó recientemente una estrategia para su prevención y control a nivel mundial (WHO, 2019).…”