Habu trimeresurus flavoviridis bites on the amami islands of japan in 1981
Sawai, Y.; Kawamura, Y.
Snake 17(1): 1-5
1985
Accession: 005546373
In 1981, 153 bites by habu (Trimeresurus flavoviridis) were reported on the Amami Is. in which 97 (63%) were from Tokunoshima Is. and 56 (37%) were from Amami Main Is. The average morbidity rate per 1000 population was 1.27 in which the highest rate was 4.08 in Amagi Town of Tokunoshima Is. and the lowest one was 0.24 in Naze City of Amami Main Is. During 8 months from March to October, 136 (89%) bites were reported. The highest incidence of bite was seen in the ages of forties (28%) and the next was fifties (20.9%), although the ages of bite were widely distributed in almost all the ages. Bites in males were more than two times as frequent as in females. Eighty-one (52.9%) of the total bites occurred in agricultural field and 33 (21.6%) were in residence. Although habu is nocturnal habit, 108 (72.5%) of bites occurred during daylight hours from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. mostly in agricultural field, whereas 41 bites (27.5%) were at dark hours from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. in residence and on road. Almost all the bites occurred in extremities (98.7%) in which 87 (56.1%) were bites in upper extremities and 66 (42.6%) were lower extremities. In 153 cases, two deaths (1.3%) were reported and cellulitis or necrosis of tissues occurred at the locus of bite in 17 cases (11%) in which 6 (3.9%) remained some motor disturbances.