Venomous stats

[Lisa]

from http://www.cdc.gov/nasd/docs/d000001-d000100/d000054/d000054.html

Venomous Snake Bite









Palm Beach Herpetological Society

STATISTICS

7000 venomous snake bites are reported annually in the United States.

15 fatalities result, placing the chance of survival at roughly 499 out of 500.

Approximately 3000 are classed as "illegitimate," meaning these bites occurred while the victim was handling or molesting the snake.

85% of the natural bites are below the knee.

50% are dry. Squeezing the venom glands to inject is a voluntary reflex. In that strikes against humans are generally defensive actions, it is estimated that no venom is purposely injected about half the time. This holds true with the pit vipers. With the Coral Snake the amount of venom injected is directly related to the size of the snake and the length of time it holds on to the victim.


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The website goes on to mention dos and don'ts...

[Gregg M]

Thank you for those stats Lisa........ That was very cool of you to go out of your way to get that info for us...... :)

[SCReptiles]

15 fatalities result
That figure is a little high. I think 15 is the max for a single year, the average is more like 5.

[Gregg M]

7000 seems abit high also........ I would guess 7000 total bites including venomous and non venomous snake bites.......

[SCReptiles]

7000 seems abit high also
Between 7000 and 8000 is the estimated number for venomous snake bites per year in the United States. Over half those are dry bites and 85% of these bites occur when someone is attempting to catch the snake or kill it. There are no stats available on this, but I bet most of the remaining 15% occur when the snake is stepped on.

[BWSmith]

I believe the 7000 bites refer to ALL snakebites, including nonvens.

[fatboy]

I appreciate the numbers. Can we see how these have jumped since the intro of Irwin? I know, I am just baiting BW.

[SCReptiles]

I believe the 7000 bites refer to ALL snakebites, including nonvens.

Info quoted from the FDA website:

Every state but Maine, Alaska and Hawaii is home to at least one of 20 domestic poisonous snake species, according to a study in the August 1, 2002, issue of The New England Journal of Medicine. The article's authors estimate that between 7,000 and 8,000 people a year receive venomous bites in the United States, and about five of those people die. Some experts say that because people who are bitten can't always positively identify a snake, they should seek prompt care for any bite, though they may think the snake is nonpoisonous. Even a bite from a so-called "harmless" snake can cause an infection or allergic reaction in some individuals.

[Ed_r]

Due to the rate people are entering into wild animal territory, and over taking land from them. It would be real hard to point an actual finger at the cause. I'm sure it has increased over the years, only because more people are venturing out of the cities.

Now on the counter point of that subject, what would you consider actual blame to Irwin's tactics? Are these bites from people hiking , and exploring the habitat of these animals , and by mistake get to close to a hot, and never even see it. Or from getting bit by just playing Stevo in the woods.

It's quite the double edged sword there. Because first if it IS just an accidental bite (meaning the hiker/herper is not looking for trouble) That would mean more people are becoming aware of the beauty of nature and wanting to learn and explore it more. I think that is actually a very good thing (not the bites of course)

There would have to be actual bite location on the body per bite over the years. But that would be a good indication of how they got bit. Would be interesting if the data was available though.

[BWSmith]

I actually know one gentleman that took a "legitimate" bite in the center of his back from a Timber. (EEGADD!). That is wahat actually got him into snakes int he first place. But bites above the knee generally indicate that there was intentional interaction between the human and the snake.

I still don't buy 7000 ven bites per year.

[Ed_r]

still don't buy 7000 ven bites per year.

You don't think there are 7000 bites? Look at the southwest. Its an almost every day occurance out there. Plus you know how many people are dumb enough to try and catch them. Many hand bites happen during gardening.

I also wonder if these 7000 bites are bites that antivenom was administered, or bites that people 'Claim" to have been a hot. So much mistaken identity could be a big part of it.

Even if the 7000 bites are by legitamate hots, it still isnt that surpising. Figure theres what 30 Billion people in the US? 7000 isnt that much really.

[BWSmith]

Figure theres what 30 Billion people in the US? 7000 isnt that much really.

Try 300 million. Off by a few zeros there Ed. :D

[SCReptiles]

Last figures show about 250,000,000 people in the US, so if 7,000 are bitten per year, that puts your chances of being bitten at 7,000/250,000,000 or .00000028%. You have better odds of winning LottoSouth. =) Ed, read the text I posted, half of the 7k are dry and 85% are brought on by human error. 7k is not a very large number, I would imagine that over 7k per year are bitten in TX alone considering all bites, ven and non-ven. Think of how many immigrant agricultural workers there are in the southern states? They work in sandals and often barefoot. I am sure they account for a great many of the 7k. I know one firm who plants trees after lumper companies do there thing. They employee a great deal of Mexicans. This firm had to pay out about $23,000 this time last year when one of the tree planters was hit by a cane in SC.

[BWSmith]

Last figures show about 250,000,000 people in the US

Pretty close Chuck. we net one more person every 10 seconds, at this exact second of posting, we will have

291,887,305

[BWSmith]

Still, 20 venomous bites per day in the US, seems really high to me. That is almost one bite per hour.


that puts your chances of being bitten at 7,000/250,000,000 or .00000028%.

No, that is the percentage of people bitten by those numbers. Not your odds of being bitten.

[SCReptiles]

cool, where did you get that stat?

[BWSmith]

U.S. Census Population Clock (http://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/popclock)

It updates every 10 seconds to give the up to date current population estimate.


And if you're curious World population counter (http://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/ipc/popclockw)

[Ed_r]

Ed, read the text I posted, half of the 7k are dry and 85% are brought on by human error

I saw what you posted, But just curious if they were verified hot bites, or many mistaken identity. Not just a bunch of people saying they got bit by say a coral snake, when actually it was a milksnake.

Ok so I exadgerated with the population. Stiil a small amount of the population.:p

Not doubting the 50% dry bites, just not sure how realistic the data is.

[SCReptiles]

Yes, I think they verified venomous bites. The wound of a pit viper would be easy to distinguish from our non-venomous snakes. The only close call would be the coral that you mentioned. I am no expert in that field, but I imagine that a dry coral bite wound would be hard to distinguish from a normal North American colubrid bite wound. Even so, I think coral make up a very small percentage of the bites.

[Snakesafe]

Just be glad we aren't in middle eastern country where we would be discussing thousands of deaths instead 10 or 15....I have only seen one bite in my time and it was dry bite from a souther copper....

[Mustangrde1]

Just a side note Russlls vipers kill about 800 people per year. Is 7000 high in the US with a population Higher than Pakistan Maybe.I am curious to just how many bites are truly HOT and how many are people panicing and running to the ER!!

[BWSmith]

Well, I remember recently when someone "educated" in snakes was bitten by what he claimed was a Cottonmouth. He brought the snake in. I wonder what they did with that Rough Green Snake :D

[redcarpet]

STATS UPDATE!!!

Of the 7000 reported bites per year, 6995 are mine alone, so there are really only 5 others being bitten per year, and they all die.

Ok, so I was bored.

[cobraman]

the other 5 must be mine (but mine are rarely reported)

[Mustangrde1]

THANK GOD RAY.lol.Now lets see the pic of you preparring to catch that feared Red Rat snake again I think we can all use a laugh.

[cobraman]

Can't still recovering from that ringneck snake ordeal