Nigeria

Medically important snakes and their bites in Nigeria

Associate Professor Abdulrazaq G. Habib

May we escape danger in the farm – the bites of a snake or the sting of the scorpion ... May children put their fathers into the earth and not fathers their children...

Chinua Achebe, Arrow of God

Introduction

A recent global reappraisal estimated a snake bite incidence of 8.9–93.3/100,000 persons with 10001–100000 envenoming per year and resulting mortality rate of 0.5–5.9/100,000 persons with 1001–10000 deaths per year in West Africa. It is a major medical problem in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country with over 140million people. This brief report describes the problems and potential solutions to the snake bite menace in the country.