Brazil milks deadly snakes for their life-saving venom
Dozens of poisonous snake species, including the jararaca, thrive in Brazil
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2 MIN READ
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Brazilian expert Eliane Campos de Oliveira holds a jar with of preserved rattlesnakes at the Butantan Institue -which supplies the Ministry of Health, with many snakes' venom for its ditribution countrywide- in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on November 12, 2019. In 2018 nearly 29,000 people were bitten by snakes in Brazil, of which over a hundred were killed. Most of the cases were in the vast and remote Amazon basin, far away from hospitals stocked with antivenom. / AFP / CARL DE SOUZA
AFP
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An expert holds a rattlesnake after venom was extracted from it at the Butantan Institue -which supplies the Ministry of Health, with many snakes' venom for its ditribution countrywide- in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on November 12, 2019. In 2018 nearly 29,000 people were bitten by snakes in Brazil, of which over a hundred were killed. Most of the cases were in the vast and remote Amazon basin, far away from hospitals stocked with antivenom. / AFP / CARL DE SOUZA
AFP
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An expert holds a rattlesnake before extracting venom from it at the Butantan Institue -which supplies the Ministry of Health, with many snakes' venom for its ditribution countrywide- in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on November 12, 2019. In 2018 nearly 29,000 people were bitten by snakes in Brazil, of which over a hundred were killed. Most of the cases were in the vast and remote Amazon basin, far away from hospitals stocked with antivenom. / AFP / CARL DE SOUZA
AFP
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A rattlesnake is seen before extracting venom from it at the Butantan Institue -which supplies the Ministry of Health, with many snakes' venom for its ditribution countrywide- in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on November 12, 2019. In 2018 nearly 29,000 people were bitten by snakes in Brazil, of which over a hundred were killed. Most of the cases were in the vast and remote Amazon basin, far away from hospitals stocked with antivenom. / AFP / CARL DE SOUZA
AFP
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An expert holds a rattlesnake before extracting venom from it at the Butantan Institue -which supplies the Ministry of Health, with many snakes' venom for its ditribution countrywide- in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on November 12, 2019. In 2018 nearly 29,000 people were bitten by snakes in Brazil, of which over a hundred were killed. Most of the cases were in the vast and remote Amazon basin, far away from hospitals stocked with antivenom. / AFP / CARL DE SOUZA
AFP
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Experts prepare a rattlesnake for venom extraction at the Butantan Institue -which supplies the Ministry of Health, with many snakes' venom for its ditribution countrywide- in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on November 12, 2019. In 2018 nearly 29,000 people were bitten by snakes in Brazil, of which over a hundred were killed. Most of the cases were in the vast and remote Amazon basin, far away from hospitals stocked with antivenom. / AFP / CARL DE SOUZA
AFP
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Brazilian expert Eliane Campos de Oliveira holds a jar with a preserved venomous snake at the Butantan Institue -which supplies the Ministry of Health, with many snakes' venom for its ditribution countrywide- in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on November 12, 2019. In 2018 nearly 29,000 people were bitten by snakes in Brazil, of which over a hundred were killed. Most of the cases were in the vast and remote Amazon basin, far away from hospitals stocked with antivenom. / AFP / CARL DE SOUZA
AFP
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An expert extracts venom from a rattlesnake at the Butantan Institute -which supplies the Ministry of Health, with many snakes' venom for its ditribution countrywide- in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on November 12, 2019. In 2018 nearly 29,000 people were bitten by snakes in Brazil, of which over a hundred were killed. Most of the cases were in the vast and remote Amazon basin, far away from hospitals stocked with antivenom. / AFP / CARL DE SOUZA
AFP
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An expert holds a rattlesnake before extracting venom from it at the Butantan Institue -which supplies the Ministry of Health, with many snakes' venom for its ditribution countrywide- in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on November 12, 2019. In 2018 nearly 29,000 people were bitten by snakes in Brazil, of which over a hundred were killed. Most of the cases were in the vast and remote Amazon basin, far away from hospitals stocked with antivenom. / AFP / CARL DE SOUZA
AFP
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An expert extracts venom from a rattlesnake at the Butantan Institute -which supplies the Ministry of Health, with many snakes' venom for its ditribution countrywide- in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on November 12, 2019. In 2018 nearly 29,000 people were bitten by snakes in Brazil, of which over a hundred were killed. Most of the cases were in the vast and remote Amazon basin, far away from hospitals stocked with antivenom. / AFP / CARL DE SOUZA
AFP
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