Black-necked Spitting Cobra

DESCRIPTION:

The Black-necked spitting cobra is large spitting cobra with adults averaging 120 to 220 cm. The body is relatively slender, becoming thickset with age. Color is any shade of brown, grey, or black above. Below red, yellow, cream or grey, with a broad black band on the throat.

HABITS & HABITAT:

Found in moist or dry savanna, and semi-arid regions. The Black-necked spitting cobra can be active during the day or night (diurnal or nocturnal).

DISTRIBUTION:

Burkina Faso; Cameroon; Côte d’Ivoire; Gambia; Ghana; Guinea; Guinea-Bissau; Mali; Niger; Nigeria; Senegal; Togo. No records exist but this species may also occur in Chad and the Central African Republic.

VENOM:

The venom is predominantly and potently cytotoxic; Treatment for the necrosis is often prolonged, complicated and very expensive; A bite is a medical emergency; it must be treated in a well-equipped hospital, and vigorous action to reduce the amount of tissue damage, involving early antivenom administration; Venom in the eye is also a frequent result of an encounter with this snake, causing agonising pain, and, if untreated, corneal lesions and complications.

SYMPTOMS:

Agonising pain & swelling (which may involved the entire limb and spread to the trunk); Local swelling and discolouration are often the earliest signs of envenoming; blistering and serious local long-term tissue damage; Blisters are formed around the darkened necrotic area approximately 72 hours after the bite; There may be “skipping lesions”, areas of necrosis separated by strips of apparently normal skin caused by proximal spread of venom in lymphatic vessels; Patients may become drowsy due to hypovolaemic shock but swelling may be aggravated by a venous tourniquet or traditional remedies; Deaths are rare.

FIRST-AID:

Remember to remain calm; Gently wash the bite site with water, nothing else; Remove rings, jewellery and other restrictive clothing or shoes; Draw a circle around the bite site; Write the time the bite occurred next to the bite site; Keep the affected limb elevated above the height of the head; Painkillers (NOT NSAIDS); Keep the bite site sterile and covered.

VENOM OPHTHALMIA:

The affected eye must be gently irrigated with large quantities of water; Protect the eyes from sun for 3 days; Anyone who has been spat at should visit a hospital or eye clinic for an assessment of the damage to the eye.

ANTIVENOM:

EchiTab-Plus-ICP.