New species of venomous snake

Published: 27th May, 2022

Context

The snake has been named Maya’s Pit Viper after the deceased mother of an Army officer.

The name of the pit viper, recognised as Trimeresurusmayaae, is also believed to allude to maya, meaning the supernatural powers, or the illusion related to local legends.

About

Pit viper, is the species of viper (subfamily Crotalinae) that has, in addition to two movable fangs, a heat-sensitive pit organ between each eye and nostril which together help it accurately aim its strike at its warm-blooded prey.
Pit vipers are found from deserts to rainforests, primarily in the New World.
They can be terrestrial, arboreal, or aquatic.
Some species lay eggs and others produce live young ones.
The snake measuring about 750 mm in length.

Why it is important?

In a country where around 1.2 million people have lost their lives owing to snakebite and many more have lost their limbs in the last two decades.
A discovery of a new venomous snake means a lot in the context of public health.
Venom is a complex protein, mostly typical to a species and thus unravelling a new species will help understanding its venom and its impact on human life and perhaps will help save lives.

Snake bites in India

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that about 5 million snakebites occur each year, resulting in up to 2.7 million envenoming.
Published reports suggest that between 81,000 and 138,000 deaths occur each year.
Snakebite envenoming causes as many as 400,000 amputations and other permanent disabilities.
Many snakebites go unreported, often because victims seek treatment from non-medical sources or do not have access to health care.
As a result it is believed that many cases of snakebite go unreported.
Snake antivenoms are effective treatments to prevent or reverse most of the harmful effects of snakebite envenoming.
They are included in the WHO Essential Medicines List and should be part of any primary health-care package where snake bites occur.
Unfortunately many people either lack access to antivenom, or cannot afford to pay for them.
Many families sell possessions or go into debt in order to obtain antivenom after someone is bitten.
WHO added snakebite envenoming to its priority list of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) in June 2017.

Facts:

In India, around 90% of snakebites are caused by the 'big four' among the crawlers

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