High mortality from snakebite in south-eastern Senegal

Over 24 years, from 1976 to 1999, we conducted a prospective study of overall and cause-specific mortality among the population of 42 villages of south-eastern Senegal. Of 4228 deaths registered during this period, 26 were caused by snakebite, 4 by invertebrate stings and 8 by other wild or domestic animals. The average annual mortality rate from snakebite was 14 deaths per 100 000 population. Among persons aged greater than or equal to 1 year, 0.9% (26/2880) of deaths were caused by snakebite and this cause represented 28% (26/94) of total deaths by accidents. We also investigated the snake fauna of the area. Of 1280 snakes belonging to 34 species that were collected, one-third were dangerous and the proportion of Viperidae, Elapidae and Atractaspidae was 23%, 11% and 0.6%, respectively. The saw-scaled viper Echis ocellatus was the most abundant species (13.6%). Other venomous species were Causus maculatus (6.5%), Naja katiensis (5.5%), Bitis arietans (2.7%), Elapsoidea trapei (2.4%), Naja nigricollis (1.2%), Naja melanoleuca (1.1%), Atractaspis aterrima (0.4%), Dendroaspis potylepis (0.3%) and Naja haje (0.1%).