Nigeria records 20,000 snakebites, 2,000 deaths annually — Health minister

The Minister of State for Health, Olorunnimbe Mamora, said on Monday Nigeria records an average of 20,000 cases of snakebite every year.

Mamora, who disclosed this at a ministerial press briefing marking the 2021 International Snakebite Awareness Day (ISBAD), in Abuja, said about 2,000 people were killed and 2,000 others amputated after snakebites.

He said snakebite “poisoning” known as envenomation had long been a public health concern in Nigeria, especially in rural areas.

The minister said though there were also snakes that were not poisonous, Nigeria had three main types or snake species that were responsible for envenomation.

Mamora said: “The Cobra or Naja nigricollis, the Puff Adder or Bitis arietans and the Carpet Viper or Echis ocellatus.

“Snakebite affects the lives of many people and most of the victims are rural women, children, peasant farmers, herdsmen and hunters.

“A most recent survey conducted in 2013 by Habib et all, showed that snakebites in Nigeria occur at 497 cases per 100,000 people. The Carpet Viper is the one responsible for most, about 90 percent of bites and 60 percent of snakebite deaths.

“Nigeria records an average of 15,000 – 20,000 cases of snakebite every year with about 2,000 people killed and between 1,700 and 2,000 people having one leg or arm amputated, to save their lives after snakebites.”

He noted that snakebite occurs mainly during planting and harvest seasons when people go about their work on the farm or in bushes.

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The minister added: “The cases increased recently because of excessive rainfall, leading to more morbidity and deaths connected with inadequate quantities of anti-snake-venom.

“States with the most cases of snakebites in Nigeria are – Gombe, Plateau, Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Nasarawa, Enugu, Kogi, Kebbi, Oyo, Benue and Taraba.”

“About 5 million people in the world are bitten every year by snakes and up to 2.5 million people suffer poisoning or envenomation.

“At least a hundred thousand of them die from the bites and about 300,000 amputated or suffer other permanent disabilities caused by snake bites.

“In Africa, about one million snake bites occur yearly with half of them requiring treatment as Nigeria supports efforts to bring attention to snakebite and envenomation and the process leading to recognition of snakebite as a Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD).”

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