Context
Rising snakebite deaths in Kerala (April–May 2025) due to an unusually hot summer driving venomous snakes into human habitations has exposed critical gaps in India’s clinical infrastructure and snakebite management framework, making it a significant public health and governance issue.
1. Why Snakebites Are Increasing — Ecological Reasons
- Snakes are ectothermic (cold-blooded) — they cannot regulate body temperature internally and are entirely dependent on external environment; hotter summers force them into cool, damp human spaces — homes, storerooms, firewood stacks, coconut husk piles
- Kerala’s dense vegetation + high human-wildlife range overlap increases contact probability
| Ectothermic: organism whose body temperature depends on external environmental temperature (opposite = endothermic). |
2. Kerala’s Snake Profile
- Kerala has 100+ snake species
- Home to India’s “Big Four” venomous snakes:
| Snake | Key Feature |
| Common Krait | Highly neurotoxic; nocturnal; bites often painless |
| Russell’s Viper | Haemotoxic; most snakebite fatalities in India |
| Saw-scaled Viper | Highly aggressive; rapid venom action |
| Spectacled Cobra | Both neurotoxic and cytotoxic venom |
3. Snakebite — Key Epidemiological Facts
- India accounts for nearly half of all global snakebite deaths
- Most affected groups: agricultural workers and children
- 70% of snakebite presentations involve non-venomous species
- Of remaining 30%, roughly half are dry bites (no venom injected)
- Therefore, a substantial proportion of patients do not need Anti-Snake Venom (ASV)
Dry Bite — a snakebite where the snake does not inject venom; no envenomation occurs despite fang penetration
4. Anti-Snake Venom (ASV) — Current Status & Challenges
I. What is ASV?
- Anti-Snake Venom (ASV) is a biological product (antibody-based) administered to neutralise snake venom in the bloodstream
- It is the only proven treatment for snakebite envenomation
II. Key Problem — The Diagnostic Gap
- No commercially available rapid venom detection diagnostic kit exists in India
- Diagnosis is entirely symptomatic (syndromic approach) — treatment begins only after symptoms appear
- ICMR has flagged the syndromic approach as a systemic flaw — by the time symptoms manifest, venom may have irreversibly damaged tissue
5. Government Initiatives
| Initiative | Details |
| Snakebite as Notifiable Disease | Kerala declared snakebite a notifiable disease — mandatory reporting to health authorities; enables better data collection and resource planning. |
| SARPA Programme | Kerala government’s programme to professionalise snake rescue operations |
| Notifiable Disease — a disease that law requires to be reported to government authorities; enables surveillance, resource allocation, and epidemic controlPower to declare a notifiable disease rests with State Governments; the Centre can only recommend. |
With reference to “Notifiable Diseases” in India, consider the following statements:
1. The power to declare a disease notifiable lies with the Central Government.
2. States can mandate reporting of such diseases for surveillance.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer: B
Explanation:
Statement 1 is Incorrect: In India, there is no single central law that uniformly empowers the Union Government to declare diseases as “notifiable” for all states. Public health is a State subject under the Constitution (State List).
• While the Central Government (through bodies like the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare) may issue guidelines or advisories,
• The actual power to notify diseases generally lies with State Governments under their respective public health acts or epidemic laws.
Statement 2 is Correct: States have the authority to mandate reporting of certain diseases (making them “notifiable”) for surveillance and control.
• Once a disease is declared notifiable, healthcare providers are legally required to report cases to authorities.
• This helps in disease tracking, outbreak detection, and timely intervention (e.g., under frameworks like the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme).
