Dead snakes still inject venom, Assam reports 3 cases
After a hard day at work, 35-year-old Abinash Marak was returning to his home located in a village on border of Assam and Meghalaya. Hearing a commotion at a neighbour’s house, Marak went over and learned that a black snake that had entered the house had been killed by the owners.
“As the snake was already dead, I volunteered to throw its carcass in the nearby bushes,” Marak, a mahout by profession, tells Mongabay India. “While holding its head, I felt a prick on the little finger of my right hand. As the snake was already dead, I ignored the bite.”
However, as the night progressed, Marak’s condition worsened. He had difficulty breathing and even swallowing water. Next morning, he was taken to a local faith healer but he was not of much help. On the insistence of his friend who lived in Boko in Assam, he was taken to Kamrup Civil Hospital in Guwahati, a 20-minute drive from his home.
“At around 12.30 p.m., he was brought to our hospital. On initial examination, he had ptosis (drooping eyelids), difficulty in swallowing, throat pain and body ache,” recalls Dr. Hemen Nath, who treated Marak. “The dead snake was identified to be the lesser black krait. Twenty vials of ASV (anti-snake venom) were immediately injected along with two doses of neostigmine glycopyrrolate and calcium gluconate. However, as his condition deteriorated further, he was shifted to an ICU for ventilation support. His health condition improved after 43 hours of respiratory support. The patient was discharged in good health after a few days.”
That was in 2023. After a week of rest, Marak resumed his work and has now moved on with his life.
This incident is one of three such cases of fatal bites caused by dead snakes, in a new paper in the Frontiers in Tropical Diseases. The other two cases, also in 2023, were both reported from Charaideo district near Sivasagar in Assam. In those cases, envenomation was by monocled cobras soon after they were dead. The snakes were identified through photographs.
“Snakes have the ability to inflict envenomation causing pathophysiological anomalies as well as death in the victims. These abilities of snakes remain intact even after death and decapacitation of the head,” explains Dr. Surajit Giri, one of the authors of the paper who is also popularly known as the ‘Snake doctor of Assam’. He works at the Demow Rural Community Health Center in Sivasagar district which is known for snakebite treatment in Assam.
Such instances of envenomation – injecting venom through a bite – by dead or presumed to be dead snakes gives insights into the biting behaviour of snakes, adds Giri, noting that, “These cases further emphasise the necessity of extreme caution needed while handling snakes.”
Antivenom therapy can reduce complications
The other two cases recorded in the paper follow similar patterns to Marak’s, however the pain level and recovery time seemed to be more severe. All three required antivenom therapy.
In one incident, a 45-year-old man witnessed a monocled cobra attacking his chickens inside the coop. He killed the snake by beheading it but while throwing the dead snake away, he was bitten on his right thumb. He had severe pain radiating up to his shoulder and was taken to the nearby Demow Rural Community Health Centre that night.
“Local examination revealed blackening of the bitten area. Upon identification and with severe pain, colour changes in bite area and vomiting, 20 vials of ASV were immediately infused along with a dose of paracetamol for pain. The pain significantly decreased following the treatment. The patient did not develop any symptoms of neurotoxicity. However, the bite caused a profound wound and necrosis which needed extensive debridement and dressing for a month,” says Dr. Giri, who treated the patient.
In the other case, a farmer working in a paddy field unknowingly crushed a snake with his tractor in 2023. When he stepped down from the tractor, the dead snake, again a monocled cobra, immediately bit him on his foot. Sensing severe progressive pain, swelling and colour changes at the bite site, he went to the nearby Demow Rural Community Health Centre, where 20 vials of ASV were immediately infused. “Although he did not develop any neurotoxicity, severe cytotoxicity causing a non-healing ulcer took months to heal,” says the paper.
These incidences add further evidence to past records of dead snake bites. According to the study, there have been previous international reports of rattlesnakes’ heads remaining active for 20-60 minutes after decapacitation. Freeze-dried or preserved fangs of venomous snakes have also been observed to be poisonous after weeks and months, requiring antivenom treatment for someone who touched it.
But how can dead snakes bite? A possible explanation, the paper says, could lie in the structural organisation of the venom apparatus and fangs in front-fanged snakes. The venom gland consists of a large basal lumen for storage of secreted venom which is connected to a long hollow fang. When the snake bites into prey, venom is rapidly injected via a groove in the fang by constriction of the compressor muscle. In the case of dead snakes, an “inadvertent envenomation” may be caused if someone accidentally presses the venom gland while holding the severed head.
The paper adds that a bite by dead snakes can also be attributed to their inherent potential to respond reflexively, even after death. Additionally, as the snake is dead, it loses the control over the quantity of venom to be injected and could involuntarily inject the entire quantity of venom present in the fang. Such envenomation requires antivenom therapy to reduce harmful complications, the paper notes.
Awareness helps tackle fear of snakes
Out of 300 snake species found in India, only about 60 species are venomous, explains Dr. Giri. “The most common venomous snakes responsible for the majority of snakebite include the big four — spectacles cobra, common krait, Russell’s viper and saw-scaled viper. North-eastern India is home to a slightly variable distribution of venomous snakes such as monocled cobra, various species of krait and pit vipers. Envenomation caused by these snakes has been reported in literature, emphasising the severity,” he says.
From 2018 till now, the Demow Rural Community Health Center has handled more than 3,300 snake bite cases. There have been no casualties. In 2024, there were 11,000 snake bite cases in Assam out of which 36 people died, says Dr. Giri, adding that the previous year, 2023, about 150 people had died from snake bites. “About 1,500 doctors have been given training by the state government to deal with snake bite cases,” he says.
The paper points out that though a majority of snakes are non-venomous, insufficient knowledge about snake diversity and distribution along with fear leads to targeted killing of snakes, irrespective of whether they are venomous or non-venomous.
“Snakes don’t bite people unless they are scared. So, people should be careful while moving around or working in fields,” says Giri. “Earlier people used to kill snakes out of fear but now awareness has increased. I have held more than 500 awareness programmes at mostly rural areas where I have asked people to stay away from snakes and not to kill then.”
Increasing awareness though studies and programmes can help, especially about being cautious while handling snakes, dead or alive. Marak says, “From my experience, I have learnt that even handling dead snakes can be fatal. Now, I will tell others to refrain from touching a dead snake, at least for a few hours.”
This article originally appeared on Mongabay. Read the original article here.