Man bites cobra dead

A tribal peasant recently bit a cobra to death in a fit of rage after being struck by the serpent in a remote village of Burdwan district, about 100 km from Kolkata.

District hospital sources said the peasant working in a paddy field was bitten on the leg by a cobra last week. In a fit of rage, he chased the snake, caught hold of it and bit it furiously. He then put the dying snake into an earthen pot, closed its mouth with a piece of cloth and rushed to a hospital at the district headquarters.

At the hospital, the tribal narrated the incident to the attending doctor and paramedical staff who later found the cobra dead inside the pot. The man was immediately administered anti-venom serum and admitted to the Radharani ward of the hospital. Later, he lost consciousness for almost four hours, but recovered subsequently.

This is the same district where a few months ago seven deaths occurred in the same family due to snake bite. The entire village thought the family was 'cursed', till the cobra was found in a hole in a corner of the mud hut.

A snake charmer was called to dig out the snake. Deaths due to snake bite peak in West Bengal during the monsoon months. On an average, 400 to 450 deaths occur every year from snake bite.

In many rural areas there is a shortage of anti-venom serum and the villagers fall back on quacks for treatment. Most of the quacks treat victims with herbs and plants, but others procure the anti-venom serum from retail outlets and keep them for emergencies.

Having realised that there will be a perennial shortage of both anti-venom serum and trained doctors at the village level where such attacks are frequent, the government health department is trying to devise a strategy by which the quacks can be put to best use. One simple way is to provide them with sufficient stock of anti-venom serum.

A health department official said that generally the quacks have a fair knowledge of poisonous and non-poisonous snakes, and it is only in cases where they are sure that the bite is from a non-poisonous snake that they apply herbs and plants for cure.