In Europe,

this hardly effects us at all,

death by snakebite, but globally, venomous snakebites kill roughly 100,000 people each year, mostly in South Asia, Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, what makes the treatment of a snake bite so difficult is that a different antivenom must be developed and produced for each of the wildly different species of venomous snakes all over the world, which is why the work of The Instituto Clodomiro Picado, or ICP, named after the father of Costa Rican herpetology, is so important, it is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of snake anti­venoms, and the only one in Central America, photograph ICP, founded 50 years ago to save Costa Ricans from the dreaded terciopelo, or the fer-de-lance snake that causes a terribly painful death with one bite, the institute now serves the entire world, you can read how they do it at Smithsonian, it should be remembered in some regions’ poorer corners, local capacities for antivenom production are limited or nonexistent; the ICP has stepped in to help fill the gaps. Beyond meeting its own country’s needs, the institute has supplied or developed lifesaving antivenoms for victims on four continents, each treatment customized to protect against species that still pose lethal threats, from the West African carpet viper to the Papuan taipan, I knew that many people die of snake bite, but I had no idea that the number was as high as 100,000!