{"id":44543,"date":"2023-02-14T10:58:45","date_gmt":"2023-02-14T10:58:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/antivenom-shortage-at-crisis-levels-for-both-for-humans-and-animals"},"modified":"2023-02-14T11:18:58","modified_gmt":"2023-02-14T11:18:58","slug":"antivenom-shortage-at-crisis-levels-for-both-for-humans-and-animals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/antivenom-shortage-at-crisis-levels-for-both-for-humans-and-animals","title":{"rendered":"Antivenom shortage at crisis levels for both for humans and animals"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>The shortage of antivenom in South Africa was made strikingly clear for Steve Meighan, owner of Deep South Reptile Rescue, after a Cape Cobra bite last week.<\/p>\n

In this particular case, the bite victim was a dog that had come into contact with a Cape Cobra in Noordhoek.<\/p>\n

In a social media post, Meighan said when he arrived at the scene last week, the snake \u201cwas not in a good way\u201d and the dog suffered a snakebite on the lip.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a call from a good friend that said there was a cobra in a residence in Noordhoek. I rushed through as I always do and upon arriving I noticed a dog running around and I immediately thought \u2018that dog must be put away if there\u2019s a cobra.\u201d<\/p>\n

He learned upon arrival that the dog was bitten on the lip while the snake\u2019s spine was destroyed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe dog\u2019s tooth destroyed the spine right under its neck.\u201d<\/p>\n

Advising the pet owner to immediately take the dog to the nearest vet they learned that there was no antivenom stock in supply.<\/p>\n

Time was of the essence so Meighan started calling around to find the life-saving antivenom.<\/p>\n

\u201cI turned my attention to finding antivenom. I called Fourways vet to see if they had but no luck. I called Panorama vet because I had previously organised for two other dogs that were bitten. They also didn\u2019t have. I reached out to my network and one of them found some at Bellville Animal Hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n

Turning his attention to the cobra that was injured by the dog he realised that there was nothing he could do for the snake.<\/p>\n

\u201cI discovered that its spine was broken high up just off the neck from a tooth mark. I, unfortunately, had no choice but to euthanize the snake. Something I absolutely hate to have to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cI killed the cobra as painlessly and quickly as I could to end its suffering.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking to People\u2019s Post, Meighan said there had been a number of snake bites in recent weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cLuckily, Bellville vet received antivenom but most small vets do not have antivenom. It was a coordinated effort and we had to prepare the dog at Noordhoek Vet and then rush it through to Bellville.\u201d<\/p>\n

He adds that the antivenom shortage is a \u201cnightmare.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am someone who takes 600 to 1 000 calls a year to rescue snakes. It\u2019s a serious risk for me if I get bitten.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the African Snakebite Institute\u2019s CEO Johan Marais, the shortage of antivenom, is currently a major crisis in South Africa.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a crisis because the producers of antivenom are having a production crisis which is massive.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added while hospitals are also affected by the shortage that vets are more affected.<\/p>\n

\u201cVets use a lot of antivenoms and there has been a major shortage in the last six to eight months because SA\u2019s vaccine producers are not creating enough antivenom.<\/p>\n

\u201cDogs are dying everywhere and it\u2019s mostly dogs that are being bitten and treated. It\u2019s a major crisis not only in SA but Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n

While antivenom is a crisis Meighan added that education was also needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe antivenom crisis is an issue but education is also sorely needed. We are trying to develop a seminar to present to doctors, but are still trying to get funding together so train doctors about snake bite management and treatment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen medical professionals would know who to speak and trust, take advice from and not take advice from, because it\u2019s often difficult as we are not a recognised industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one thing not having the antivenom but another when having the antivenom and then wasting it and not knowing how to use it properly.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, doctors do it very briefly at university and they may not see it in their whole career again.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to change that and bring them that education and bring them those seminars so they may be up to speed on current treatments to manage snakebites.\u201d<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Africa<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. The shortage of antivenom in South Africa was made strikingly clear for Steve Meighan, owner of Deep South Reptile Rescue, after a Cape Cobra bite last week. In this particular case, the bite victim was a dog that had come into contact with a Cape Cobra in Noordhoek. In a social media […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":44542,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5],"tags":[274,315,4609,279,275,295],"class_list":["post-44543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-south-africa","tag-antivenom","tag-cape-town","tag-south-africa-2","tag-western-cape"],"yoast_head":"\nAntivenom shortage at crisis levels for both for humans and animals - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The shortage of antivenom in South Africa was made strikingly clear for Steve Meighan, owner of Deep South Reptile Rescu ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/antivenom-shortage-at-crisis-levels-for-both-for-humans-and-animals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Antivenom shortage at crisis levels for both for humans and animals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The shortage of antivenom in South Africa was made strikingly clear for Steve Meighan, owner of Deep South Reptile Rescu ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/antivenom-shortage-at-crisis-levels-for-both-for-humans-and-animals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-02-14T10:58:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-02-14T11:18:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2023\/02\/postQueueImg_1676359742.93.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/antivenom-shortage-at-crisis-levels-for-both-for-humans-and-animals#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/antivenom-shortage-at-crisis-levels-for-both-for-humans-and-animals\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Antivenom shortage at crisis levels for both for humans and animals\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-02-14T10:58:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-02-14T11:18:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/antivenom-shortage-at-crisis-levels-for-both-for-humans-and-animals\"},\"wordCount\":701,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/antivenom-shortage-at-crisis-levels-for-both-for-humans-and-animals#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2023\/02\/postQueueImg_1676359742.93.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-South-Africa\",\"antivenom\",\"cape town\",\"South-Africa\",\"western cape\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"economy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/antivenom-shortage-at-crisis-levels-for-both-for-humans-and-animals#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/antivenom-shortage-at-crisis-levels-for-both-for-humans-and-animals\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/antivenom-shortage-at-crisis-levels-for-both-for-humans-and-animals\",\"name\":\"Antivenom shortage at crisis levels for both for humans and animals - 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