Manual de identificação das serpentes peçonhentas de Mato Grosso do Sul

Abstract

In Brazil, about 76 species of snakes produce toxins that can be potentially dangerous to humans. Since the discovery of the specificity of the antivenom by Vital Brazil (1911), it has been noted that there has been an increase in the number of accidents by venomous animals in the Brazil between the 1990s and 2000s (average of 70,082 between 2000 and 2006), in addition to 16 deaths resulting from accidents with snakes between 2000 and 2007. In Mato Grosso do Sul, only in the year 2019 (2020 and 2021 not yet available ), 717 accidents with snakes were reported in Campo Grande, with 24 of these associated with pit vipers (Bothrops), two with rattlesnakes (Crotalus), one with a non-venomous snake (unspecified) and 690 with snakes classified as “ign/white”. In addition, between 2010 and 2019, 16 accidents caused by snakes resulted in death in Mato Grosso do Sul. The present proposal aims to contribute to the training of students and professionals in the areas of biological sciences and health, since the theme "ophidism" is not addressed in depth in undergraduate courses in the areas of Biological and Health Sciences, helping them to to distinguish venomous from non-venomous snakes, in addition to revealing the distribution of venomous species along the urban perimeter of Campo Grande.