Snakebite

There are around 40,000 deaths from snakebite every year. Whilst other snakes have more potent venom, the saw-scaled viper is the most deadly snake in terms of numbers of deaths caused. Distributed throughout Africa and parts of Asia, it accounts annually for over 10,000 deaths in India alone and 10% of hospital occupancy in Nigeria. Brown tree snakes have caused more than 200 snakebites, 1,200 electrical outages and the extinction of most native forest birds on Guam. The Interior Department is spending $4.5 million annually to prevent the spread of the brown tree snake from Guam.