Snakebite Envenoming (Schlangenbissvergiftungen)

Author summary Snakebite is a neglected tropical disease that affects millions every year and primarily results from conflicts in how humans and snakes use environments where they co-exist. Unfortunately, our understanding of where conflict is most pronounced is limited because of surprisingly sparse data on snakebite numbers, their locations, and snake distributions, especially in regions of the world where snakebites are most prevalent. Here, we collate unprecedented amounts of data on where medically important snake species occur and combine them with expert knowledge and statistical models of environmental suitability for snakes at a global 1km resolution now and under conditions of predicted climate change. This approach gives us detailed maps of snake-human population overlap, and allows stakeholders to implement targeted, future-proof efforts to improve human-snake co-existence as well as making snakebite treatments available in the most appropriate locations. It also enables us to detect knowledge gaps that still need to be addressed, based on disagreements of expert knowledge and statistical models. Our results can be used as a basis to study factors that increase human susceptibility to snakebite in areas where they co-exist, such as agricultural practices, housing conditions, lifestyle traits of different snakes, or weather events.