The death rate from a bite by a Russell’s viper is 30% – about double that of other snake bites
Kamran Reza Chowdhury/Dhaka
Saddam Hossain, a private tutor in northwestern Bangladesh, says a snakebite from a Russell’s viper shattered his family at a time when his mother was already struggling to make ends meet following her husband’s death at a young age.
Hossain, 33, remembers the day that one of Asia’s deadliest snakes fatally bit his brother, Sohel Rana, 29, at their village in Rajshahi district.
“Two years ago, a Russell’s viper bit him as he went to work in his jute field in our Charfarhadpur village. He died at the hospital after three days of treatment at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital (RMCH),” Hossain told BenarNews.
The Russell’s viper has made a comeback in parts of Bangladesh after being declared an endangered species in the country in the early 2000s, and the species is blamed for dozens of fatalities from snake bites in Rajshahi in recent years, according to officials and wildlife experts.
Sohel Rana, farmed and drove a small pickup, earning about 20,000 taka (U.S. $170) a month, Hossain said, adding he earned about 15,000 taka ($128) per month.
“My mother was happy,” he said.
Now, “my mother cannot accept death. She has developed cardiac complications and heart diseases,” Hossain said, adding he finds it difficult affording her treatment and meeting daily expenses.
Recalling the incident, Hossain said his brother was slow to react to the snakebite.
“He did not take it seriously. Within an hour, his leg swelled and we rushed him to the hospital. The doctors said a Russell’s viper had bitten him.”
Days earlier, another person died from a similar bite, according to Hossain, adding that the snake had become a menace in his region.
He said Russell’s vipers, which resemble small pythons and can grow to about 1.8 meters (nearly six feet) long, are found in sandbars adjacent to the Ganges River. Many bite victims are poor farmers.
“The snake is now a dreaded name across the country. Mainly of the poorest people are the victims of the bites,” Md. Abu Saeed, head of Wildlife and Environmental Education, a Bangladesh NGO, told BenarNews. This snake may pose a big challenge in our health system in future, if proper attention is not given.”
RMCH reported that at least 202 patients came to the hospital with Russell’s viper bites between January 2018 and December 2023, adding 62 had died despite receiving anti-venom injections. At least seven people died during the first three months of 2024 – the most recent occurred on March 29 and involved a woman from Debipur village who died two weeks after receiving treatment.
In October 2023, Sumon Mia, a snake charmer died after being bit on his finger in Faridpur district.
Abu Shahin, a physician specializing in treating snake bite patients at RMCH, said the treatment for victims of Russell’s vipers is more difficult than for those bitten by other snakes.
“Russell’s viper venom causes multiple complications for the patients. It causes swelling, bleeding, internal hemorrhage and kidney failure,” he told BenarNews, adding the death rate is 30%, double that of other snake bites.
In addition, the anti-venom used to treat victims is imported from India and used to treat general snake bite cases.
“A German expert has examined the venom of Bangladesh Russell’s viper and the Indian Russell’s viper in a German laboratory. The result shows that the two venoms are different,” Shahin said.
Saeed said the government did not track snakebite deaths nationwide, but he noted that between 6,000 and 7,500 people die in Bangladesh each year.
He said the Russell’s viper had not been seen in Bangladesh between 2002 and 2012 but made the news in 2013 when one of these snakes fatally bit a youth in greater Rajshahi.
“In less than 10 years, the snake has reached at least 25 districts covering almost half of the country,” Saeed said. “The Russell’s viper is mainly seen in dry areas such as greater Rajshahi. But it has reached even the coastal and marshy districts of Barishal, Patuakhali and Chandpur.”
Safayet Ahmed Siddiqui, deputy director of the agricultural extension department in the coastal district of Chandpur, said the North Matlab subdistrict beside the Meghna river, which connects with the Ganges river, had reported a concentration of Russell’s vipers in April and May during the harvest season.
“The terrified farmers there killed at least 10 snakes and they stayed away from cutting paddy from the field,” he said, adding, “the district administration issued an advisory.”
The Russell’s viper, one of the four large snakes in the Indian subcontinent, is named after the father of Indian ophiology, Scotsman Patrick Russell, who wrote about it in 1796.
Researcher Md. Kamrul Hasan, a zoology professor of Jahangirnagar University in Dhaka, said the snake has adapted to changing weather conditions and will spread across Bangladesh.
He said Russell’s vipers gave birth to babies instead of laying eggs.
“An analysis of the Russell’s viper snakes killed or caught in Bangladesh showed that 80% were female. One female can produce up to 70 babies at a time. This is a dangerous development,” Hasan told BenarNews.
“Russell’s vipers eat rats and rodents – due to expansion of paddy cultivation, the number of rats has grown, resulting in the concentration of Russell’s viper,” he said. “At the same time, the reduced number of its predators such as mongoose and foxes contributed to its growth.
“The indigenous Santal community in the northern region used to poach snakes, rats and other animals on a regular basis, reducing the population of reptiles and others. But in recent years, they have reduced such hunting,” Hasan said.
While efforts have begun in Bangladesh to develop an effective anti-venom treatment, researcher Saeed said authorities had not paid enough attention to snake bites as many of the victims were poor.
“Most of the victims of Russell’s viper and other snake bites are young. The death of a young family member brings poverty and trouble for the family,” he said.
“The government should take this issue into consideration and expedite developing anti-venom for treating Bangladesh Russell’s viper bite victims,” he said.
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