NATIONAL GUIDELINES FOR SNAKEBITE MANAGEMENT IN NEPAL

Snake

Introduction

Snakebite is an important occupational hazard affecting farmers, plantation

workers, herders and fishermen. Open-style habitation and the practice of

sleeping on the floor also expose people to bites from nocturnal snakes,

with children being at a particularly high risk. In rural Nepal, snakebite is an

important public health problem. The agriculturally prosperous terai region

with hot climate, high seasonal rainfall, lush natural vegetation, high density

of rodents, rich reptiles and amphibian flora make an ideal habitat for snake

to live and increase availability of marshy land to undergo hibernation. The

abundance of snake and human activities, mainly agriculture, increases the

man– snake encounter leading to snakebite. Nocturnal snakebite is also

common in Nepal due to the sleeping habit.

NATIONAL GUIDELINES FOR SNAKEBITE MANAGEMENT IN NEPAL PDF