Deadly viper bites owner and sets off frantic search for anti-venom, Virginia cops say
A dangerous snake bit its owner, sparking a desperate search for life-saving anti-venom in Virginia, officials said.
The man was keeping an African pit viper when officials said he was bitten overnight on March 27. The snake, which the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports is also known as a Gaboon viper, can be deadly to people.
Virginia State Police said troopers rushed in to help the man after he was treated at the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center in Richmond.
“VCU Medical Center had treated the adult male with (anti-venom) treatment from the National Zoo (in Washington, D.C.), but was in need to provide the male another dose in order to save his life,” officials said in a news release.
Police reportedly received more anti-venom from a worker at an aquarium in Virginia Beach, roughly 100 miles southeast of the hospital.
Mackenzie Di Nardo, a spokesperson for the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center, told WAVY the facility “provided 35 doses of anti-venom for emergency transport.”
The doses were “expedited” back to Richmond and given to VCU Health workers, officials said.
In an emailed statement, VCU Police and VCU Health didn’t share the snake owner’s condition but said state troopers were contacted for help with the anti-venom transport.
The aquarium didn’t immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment on March 28.
