Addressing the global snakebite crisis with geo-spatial analyses - Recent advances and future direction

Area of Science:

• Global Health
• Epidemiology
• Zoology

Background:

• Venomous snakebite is a neglected tropical disease causing significant mortality and morbidity globally.
• Ineffective management stems from insufficient data on risk, incidence, human vulnerability, and treatment accessibility.
• There is an urgent need for data collection and addressing knowledge gaps in snakebite management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review advances in geospatial analyses for snakebite management.
• To suggest priority research for practical, on-ground snakebite mitigation.
• To enhance understanding and capacity for managing snakebite incidents.

Main Methods:

• Review of recent advances in spatio-temporal models and 'big data' applications.
• Analysis of geospatial data related to snakebite risk, incidence, and health infrastructure.
• Identification of data gaps in snake distributions, venom composition, and antivenom accessibility.

Main Results:

• Geospatial analyses offer value in improving snakebite management strategies.
• Targeted data collection on snakes, bites, venom, and healthcare is crucial.
• Fine-scale models can predict spatio-temporal variations in snakebite risk.

Conclusions:

• Improved data and geospatial modeling can enhance antivenom production and distribution.
• These approaches can inform human-wildlife conflict management and conservation efforts.
• Research into venom evolution, taxonomy, and ecology can be advanced by these methods.