Coral snake antidote drying up

By Dale M. King
CITY EDITOR

Chief Al Cruz is the commanding officer of the only poisonous snake antivenin bank in the nation.

Head of the Miami-Dad Fire Rescue Antivenin Bank, he has been called upon dozens of times to supply the curing serum for potentially lethal snake bikes.

Residents of Palm Beach County and its environs to the north have recently become more aware of the poisonous bite of the red-and-yellow banded snakes.  A Dachshund in Delray Beach was bitten by a coral snake and, despite a nine-day fight for survival, eventually succumbed to the venomous reptile.

Soon after, a Jack Russell terrier in Jensen Beach was bitten and died from a coral snake bite.  And just after that, a 15-year-old boy from Vero Beach was left fighting for his life when a coral snake bit him.  He survived – in part, thanks to the 10 doses of the antitoxin airlifted from the Miami-Dade bank, which were added to the antivenin that was brought from other locations.

Al Cruz looks at the refrigerator where the antivenin is stored – and wonders how long the supply will last – and how the bank will deal with demand.

Production stopped

The problem that Cruz, veterinarians and other health care officials know very well – is that no more antivenin is being produced. Wyeth Laboratories, the only manufacturer, phased out production several years ago.

“We will soon be the sole provider” of antivenin for coral snake bites, Cruz told the Boca Raton News.  “And no one is stepping up to the plate.  There are a couple of experiments going on in Mexico, but they have not yielded anything.”

It’s not just a dog problem, said Cruz. Humans bitten by a coral snake could also succumb to the powerful toxin if they do not receive immediate attention.

Coral snakes – who can trace their lineage to cobras – are indigenous to the southeastern United States.  Palm Beach County, with its sandy soil, is particularly welcoming to the reptiles, said Kirt Rusenko, marine conservationist at the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center in Boca Raton.

And Florida is the coral snake bite capital of the U.S., according to statistics, with 45 of the nation’s annual 60 bites occurring within the state.

Shy Away

But Rusenko offered a bit of good news, pointing out that coral snakes are shy and tend to slither away when a larger creature comes near.  They do not attack humans or most other creatures because the venom is designed to paralyze the prey that provides coral snakes with food.  And coral snakes generally feed on smaller snakes.

Cruz urged humans to be aware of the onset of symptoms, which he said may arrive as quickly as one to eight hours, or as long as 12 to 24 hours. If a victim doesn’t get to a hospital quickly, it may be too late for the antitoxin to do its job.

Symptoms include numbness, slurred speech, droopy eyes and, eventually, respiratory failure.

The Miami-Dade Fire Rescue chief said his concerns are even greater at this time of year because April is the start of snake bite season.