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HomeWeekly RoundupSnake farm manager bitten by black mamba dies from anaphylaxis

Snake farm manager bitten by black mamba dies from anaphylaxis

A 26-year-old snake farm manager died doing what he loved most when he was bitten by a black mamba. News24 reports that according to his employers at African Reptiles and Venom, the snake's fang punctured Ryan Soobrayan's finger while he was trying to extract its venom.

"He had a severe anaphylactic reaction from the mamba venom. His untimely demise was not due to the bite but as a result of anaphylaxis."

Johan Marais, a herpetologist at the African Snakebite Institute, explained that it usually took between three and 16 hours to die from a black mamba snakebite. "You need to get to hospital as quickly as possible because black mambas have neurotoxic venom, which affects the breathing," Marais said.

"At the hospital, you will receive assisted breathing. They will put you on a ventilator and use CPR to revive you. Ryan was exposed to venom all the time. What's strange here, is that he did not die from the venom. His body went into shock or anaphylaxis."

Symptoms include a numbness of the lips, slurred speech and progressive weakness. Large quantities of antivenom are required to treat the snake bite, the report says.

[link url="https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/snake-farm-manager-dies-from-black-mamba-bite-20181001"]The Times report[/link]

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