Multistate hunt for antivenom after exotic snake attacks Michigan man
A snake bite forced doctors to frantically call zoos and venom response programs across the country in search of antivenom medicine.
A 26-year-old man who was bit by a cobra did not respond to the generic antivenom medicine he was initially provided at a Michigan-area hospital, before being airlifted to Detroit.
As his respiratory muscles became paralysed, doctors reportedly scrambled to locate a serum that would neutralize the rare snake venom coursing through his body.
A zoo in Toledo, Ohio sent eight vials of antivenom to the Detroit hospital, though none worked.
Later, his family members helped to identify the snake as a monocled cobra, which is native to southern Asia and contains some of the fastest-acting deadly venom in the world.
The man owned the albino monocled cobra as a pet in his home in Pinconning Township, Michigan, where he was bit on 14 July. It didn't take long for the side-effects from the deadly venom to kick in; in just 20 minutes, the victim began vomiting and feeling nauseous.
Jason Barczy, communications manager at the Detroit Medical Centre, toldUSA Today that the reaction the man had to the snake bite was extremely rare.
"The generic antivenom, which covers many, but not all species of poisonous snakes, had little effect and the patient’s condition continued to worsen," he said. "Five cases like this might happen through the entire country in a given year."
The next day, the Miami-Dade County Venom Response Program sent 20 vials of a unique antivenom medicine to the Detroit medical centre via a commercial flight. The vials were administered to the victim through an IV that same day.
The man now remains in the Detroit hospital. Officials with the medical centre said he is on his way to recovering from the rare venomous bite.
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