Kenyan researchers work to produce East Africa's first antivenom

A snake handler prepares to harvest venom from an African puff adder at the Kenya Snakebite Research and intervention centre in Nairobi, Kenya. 700 Kenyans are killed by snakebite each year, according to an article in a scientific journal, Toxicon. Experts say the number is probably higher, since bites often go unreported and few victims make it to hospital.

Apphia Ngunge holds her two year old son, Evans Mwendwa, whose index finger was amputated at the Mwingi Level 4 hospital after he was bitten by a snake in Mwingi, Kenya. The Kenya Snakebite Research and Intervention Centre (KSRIC) plans to have East Africa’s first antivenom on the market within five years, at a cost it estimates will be about a third that of an imported product, often priced at about $100.

Snake handlers harvest venom from an African puff adder at the Kenya Snakebite Research and intervention centre in Nairobi, Kenya. Nearly 100 snakes live at the research center in a forest on the outskirts of the capital.

Snake handlers harvest venom from an African puff adder at the Kenya Snakebite Research and intervention centre in Nairobi, Kenya. Researchers extract venom and study it before injecting small amounts into donor animals, such as sheep, which then produce antibodies to be harvested and purified into antivenom.

Apphia Ngunge with her two year old son, Evans Mwendwa whose index finger was amputated at the Mwingi Level 4 hospital after he was bitten by a snake in Mwingi, Kenya. Two effective antivenoms are available in Kenya, from India and Mexico, the center says. But many ineffective products circulate in sub-Saharan Africa, said David Williams, head of the Australian Venom Research Unit.

Snake handlers, at the Kenya Snakebite Research and intervention centre, carry a spitting cobra to harvest venom in Nairobi, Kenya. Vaccine maker Sanofi Pasteur, part of French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis, stopped producing antivenom for African snakes in 2010 because low demand and competition from a cheaper supplier made it unprofitable.

Snake handling tools are seen at the Kenya Snakebite Research and intervention centre in Nairobi, Kenya. Sanofi wants to share its knowledge with partners who could handle production.

A snake handler shows venom specimen harvested from an African puff adder at the Kenya Snakebite Research and intervention centre in Nairobi, Kenya. The center is teaching communities that swift use of antivenom saves lives, said veterinarian and head researcher George Adinoh.

A nurse talks to Apphia Ngunge, whose two year old son, Evans Mwendwa, had his index finger amputated at the Mwingi Level 4 hospital after he was bitten by a snake in Mwingi, Kenya.

Mwende Kilonzi, who lost a child after a snake bite, is seen outside her house at Nguni village in Mwingi, Kenya.