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Clinical Management of Snakebite in Papua New Guinea Chapter 1 Can you pick the REAL Papuan blacksnake? A B C D E F G Turn to the last page of this Chapter to see if your attempt at identification was correct or not. H - 1.5 -
Clinical Management of Snakebite in Papua New Guinea Chapter 1 Common misconceptions about snakebite There are several common misunderstandings and misconceptions about snakes and snakebite in Papua New Guinea: Belief: The majority of snakebites are caused by the Papuan blacksnake. Reality: From a medical perspective, this is a particularly dangerous misconception that can seriously harm a snakebite patient. The clinical reality is that there is little evidence to show that the real Papuan blacksnake (Pseudechis papuanus) causes large numbers of snakebites, particularly in Central province where investigations using venom identification assays have shown that only 4.3% of the serious snakebites admitted to Port Moresby General Hospital were caused by this species. In Milne Bay, Gulf and Western provinces, it is still possible that a larger proportion of snakebites are caused by the Papuan blacksnake, but at the present there is very little reliable evidence available. Papuan blacksnakes do not occur in any other parts of Papua New Guinea. In Central province the evidence suggests very strongly that the majority (more than 80%) of serious snakebites admitted to PMGH are caused by Papuan taipans (Oxyuranus scutellatus canni). In the past people have died as a result of the mis-identification of taipans as ‘blacksnakes’. Belief: Reality: Belief: Reality: Belief: Reality: The death adder uses a poison spine on its tail to harm people. This is completely untrue. The soft spine-like projection on the end of a death adders (Acanthophis spp.) tail contains nothing toxic, and has no role in the injection of venom. The ‘spine’ is nothing more than a lure that is wriggled by the snake in order to attract food – just like dangling a worm on a fishing hook. When a small lizard or frog tries to eat the lure, the snake bites the animal killing it with venom injected through fangs in the roof of the mouth. The forked tongue of a snake is a poisonous sting. The tongue of a snake is completely harmless. It is a specialised scent organ that is used to collect odours from the air and deposit them in a special organ on the roof of the mouth (Jacobson’s organ) that contains the same types of olfactory cells that occur in the human nose, and which allow us to smell – the tongue does nothing more than help the snake detect smells and odours. All snakes are venomous. This belief could not be further from the truth; of the 112 species of snakes that occur in Papua New Guinea and Papua, only a third are venomous, and of 37 species, there are currently only 6 land snake species known to have the ability to cause human fatality. The two species of sea krait (Laticauda spp.) can also cause death, as can several species of true sea snakes; but sea snake related deaths are very rare in PNG. - 1.6 -
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