A venomous snake at the San Diego Zoo bit a wildlife care specialist yesterday, sending him to the hospital. The worker was handling the African bush viper out of public view and the snake was "contained at all times with no risk of an escape." The viper's venom, of which a known anti-venom doesn't yet exist, "can cause fever, hemorrhaging and possibly death in humans," according to USA Today.
However, patients can be treated for their bites using antivenom created for other snakes' venom. This was the case in January 2015 when the Dallas Zoo helped with the treatment of a local man bitten by an African bush viper he was keeping at his home, though owning one of these snakes is illegal in Dallas and Fort Worth.
The zoo employee's condition hasn't yet been disclosed to the public.
Image by Michael Ransburg / Flickr
