CRI听力:UK Scientists 'Milk' Deadly Snakes to Create Potent New Anti-venom

Scientists in the UK experimenting to develop a new single anti-venom to treat victims of potentially deadly snakebites across sub-Saharan Africa.

A team at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine aims to create a potent new anti-venom that can be stored safely at room temperature, without being refrigerated.

Dr. Robert Harrison is the lead researcher of this global team.

They have already collected over 450 reptiles from the 21 deadliest snake species in sub-Saharan Africa.

Dr. Harrison has been extracting venom from the reptiles, using a process known as 'milking', to concoct a new anti-venom that he hopes will prevent the deaths and severe injuries suffered by snakebite victims.

"32,000 people are dying from snake bite every year in sub-Saharan Africa. But it's not only that; other people who survive the bite - about 100,000 of them - are living with severe disabled limbs or legs, just really very disabling conditions."

According to the UK's Medical Research Council, a single vial of the most effective anti-venom currently costs about $140 USD per vial.

But several vials are needed to fight the poison in the body after snakebite, and the cost of medication is a huge burden for many in Sub-Saharan Africa who earn less that $1 USD a day.

But according to Dr. Harrison the new process would slash the cost of producing a single dose of anti-venom by almost three fourths.

"So what we're going to try and do is take our existing anti-venom. Now we're going to make it more effective against all the snakes of sub-Saharan Africa. And we're going to do that by identifying the proteins that are unique to all the other species. And taking these unique proteins. i.e. different from the Source Scale Viper, the Puff Adder or the Spitting Cobra, and add that to the venoms of the original."

Anti-venom also needs to be manufactured at special temperatures and refrigerated at all times. Therefore many rural hospitals with an unstable electricity supply are unable to store them. Dr. Harrison's team is also planning to address this problem

"And at the end of three-and-a-half, four years now; so 2018, July 2018 - we will do the ultimate test of whether this new anti-venom, when it's stored at room temperature for at least a year, is effective against all the snakes of sub-Saharan Africa."

In rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa where people are exposed to various species of deadly snakes, having access to treatment on time is a life-or–death issue. Some victims have to travel for several hours before they can get help and by this time, the poison has already spread throughout the body, and they will be disabled even after receiving treatment.

The new affordable anti-venom hopes to change this.

For CRI I'm Poornima Weerasekara.