Supplies of Coral Snake Antidote Dwindling

HOUSTON - Time is running out for the antidote to venomous bites from coral snakes, generally considered the most poisonous snakes in North America.

Coral snakes are identifiable by their red, yellow and black bands. But they can be easily mistaken for non-venomous snakes like the Louisiana milk snake.

Coral snake antivenin is no longer manufactured by Wyeth, a pharmaceutical company that was recently acquired by Pfizer Inc. There is no alternative FDA-approved drug.

Current antivenin supplies expired last October. But the FDA says they’re safe to use for another 3 ½ months.

The Houston Zoo stockpiles antivenin for the wide variety of snakes in its collection.

As a public service, the zoo routinely provides its medications to doctors treating snakebite victims.

But the Houston Zoo has run out of FDA-approved coral snake antivenin. So the zoo is working to import a similar pharmaceutical from Costa Rica, says reptile and amphibian curator Stan Mays.

“What we are in the process of doing right now is replenishing our stocks with the non-FDA antivenin. We have an investigational drug permit which allows us to bring this into the country.”

Summertime is when snake bites peak, adds Mays.

“This is the time of year when we tend to get most of our calls about coral snakes.”

But coral snakes would rather hide than fight.

“They won't bite you unless you pick them up,” says Ben Taub Hospital physician Mike Rice. “And so 90 to 95-percent of bites occur when people pick them up because they're very pretty. This is especially true of men who drink alcohol.”

Coral snake bites are rarely fatal, especially in Texas, where the sub-species is thought to be less venomous than its northeastern cousin.

So the dwindling supply of antivenin may be of less concern in the Lone Star State.

“The history here at Ben Taub is that rarely is antivenin given,” says Dr. Rice. “Most of the patients do very well with no intervention except supportive care.”

Rice says about 16 Texans are bitten by coral snakes every year, although some of those cases are inevitably unconfirmed.

He adds there’s one almost surefire way to avoid this fate: leave the colorful snakes alone.