Residents are forced to place basins of water outside their homes at night to prevent lethal snake bites in Mwingi, Machakos County.
The reptiles that emerge from their habitats due to extreme drought in the sub-county have sensory capabilities of smelling water from a long distance.
They slither into homesteads in search of water to quench their thirst since the available natural water pans and earth dams have dried up in the area.
Mwingi, an endemic region for snake bites does not have peripheral health facilities with the capacity to manage snake bites hence victims have to be admitted at Mwingi Level 4 Hospital for management under a doctor’s watchful eye.
Last year alone, the hospital admitted over 200 patients due to snake bites and the growing statistics have since worsened the perennial human-wildlife conflict since time immemorial.
Speaking to this writer at the Mwingi Level 4 Hospital on Saturday, Dr. Boniface Kimuyu, the sub county's Medical Officer of Health, said reported cases of snake bites are two-fold, that is, during the dry spell and the wet season.
The reptiles, in competition with human beings, search for water during the dry spell within homesteads.
"They stealthily slither inside houses in search of the scarce resource, and in the process bite resident," Kimuyu said.
The dry spell in Mwingi is between January-March and July-October, a period within which Nguni and Nuu wards record highest cases of snake bites.
On the contrary, the rainy season is another phenomenon that pushes the reptiles from their natural habitats to people’s homes in search of safety nests from the rain's ravages.
“When it rains heavily, the holes where the reptiles retreat to when they want to rest become inhabitable because they swell up with water. This forces the snakes to sneak into people’s homes and thus endangering their lives,” Kimuyu added.
However, to mitigate on challenges posed by snake bites, the county has seven health facilities which are fully stocked with anti-venom medication administered to patients for management of their condition.
“In these facilities, Kitui County Government trained a sizeable number of nurses and clinical officers to manage snake bites at the periphery to avert loss of life,” Kimuyu said.
The MoH said a patient from Nuu, which is 75 kilometers away from Mwingi town, has to be managed within 4-8 hours after the snake bite in case it was poisonous so as to save life.
“A delay of 24 hours might lead to death if the snake was poisonous. We advise people to abandon all activities and find transport to the nearest health facility for management in case of a casualty,” he said.
The medic said a mythical stone claimed to possess super natural powers to heal snake bites has led many victims in Mwingi and its environs into early graves from treatable snake bites
“It is scientifically proven that 80% of the snakes are not poisonous whereas 20% are lethal. The mystic stone used by locals cannot cure lethal bites. If placed on a wound whose bite was not poisonous, the traders of this magical stone claim and lure their victims to believe that it can heal them,” Kimuyu said
Kimuyu said the hospital admits patients with snake bites before they are to report the incidences at Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) office for compensation.
He said any claimant, whose claim is denied, has a grace period of 30 days to appeal after the notification.
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