Because of the butterfly viper’s restricted geographic range, few bites have been reported and no statistics are available, but at least one death has occurred.
Because of the butterfly viper’s restricted geographic range, few bites have been reported and no statistics are available, but at least one death has occurred. In 2003, a man in Dayton, Ohio, who was keeping a specimen as a pet, was bitten and subsequently died.
Surviving a bite from the butterfly viper can sometimes depend on the location of the bite. Rarely, people will be invenomated right into a vein, shooting up the venom, as opposed to simply getting it into a muscle and slowly having it leak into the body.
At least one antivenom protects specifically against bites from this species: India Antiserum Africa Polyvalent.
• Image | © celestialhoney831, (CC BY-ND 3.0)
• Sources | (Firehouse, 2003; Mallow, Ludwig, & Nilson, 2003; Spawls, Howell, Drewes, & Ashe, 2004; The Wikimedia Foundation, 2018)
