Strengthening essential medicines policy to improve antivenom availability and affordability for snakebite envenomation in rural sub-Saharan Africa

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  Strengthening essential medicines policy to improve antivenom availability and affordability for snakebite envenomation in rural sub-Saharan Africa Abstract Snakebite envenomation remains a Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD) globally and in most sub-Saharan African countries; however, it causes the majority of morbidities, disabilities, and mortalities, affecting mostly the rural population who engage in agriculture, pastoralism, and hunting. Despite the inclusion of antivenom in the World Health Organization (WHO) Essential Medicines List, access to and affordability of safe and effective antivenom in rural areas in most sub-Saharan countries remain severely constrained by higher cost, a fragile supply chain, and policy implementation gaps. Consequently, preventable snakebite-related morbidities, mortalities, and disabilities persist in rural areas with higher incidences of snakebites. Therefore, this article examines the epidemiological burden of snakebite envenomation in rural a...

First observation of predation on Crossodactylus caramaschii Bastos & Pombal, 1995 (Anura: Hylodidae) by a fishing spider (Araneae: Trechaleidae) in a neotropical cave

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First observation of predation on Crossodactylus caramaschii Bastos & Pombal, 1995 (Anura: Hylodidae) by a fishing spider (Araneae: Trechaleidae) in a neotropical cave

Cave environments are characterized by a scarcity of available organic material, little or no primary production, and low or absent natural light (Culver and Pipan, 2019). Additionally, they have high environmental stability with temperatures close to the annual external average, humidity tending to saturation, and simplified trophic networks (Barr, 1968). However, ecological interactions and predation networks in neotropical caves are still understudied (Souza-Silva and Ferreira, 2014; Resende and Bichuette; 2016, Bernardi et al., 2020). Frogs are among the food items of top predator invertebrates (Toledo, 2005; Barbo et al., 2009; Sanches et al., 2018). In caves, spiders are among the top predators (Bernardi et al., 2020) and represent a group of significant diversity compared to other subterranean animal groups (Trajano and Bichuette, 2010; Cizauskas, 2017). However, there are gaps in our understanding of behavioural and ecological interactions in cave habitats.

Herpetology Notes, volume 17: 355-357 (2024) (published online on 29 May 2024)