The Association Between Ambient Temperature and Snakebite in Georgia, USA: A Case-Crossover Study

Area of Science:

• Environmental Health
• Epidemiology
• Herpetology

Background:

• Snakebite envenoming is a high-priority neglected tropical disease.
• Environmental factors, particularly temperature, are understudied risk factors for snakebites.
• Snakes, as ectotherms, exhibit temperature-dependent behavior influencing bite risk.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between short-term temperature variations and snakebite emergency department visits in Georgia.
• To quantify the impact of daily maximum temperature on venomous and non-venomous snakebite occurrences.
• To compare temperature associations for snakebites with non-snake envenomations.

Main Methods:

• Utilized emergency department visit data from Georgia (2014-2020).
• Identified snakebite and non-snake envenomation visits using diagnosis codes.
• Linked daily meteorological data with patient residential ZIP codes and applied a case-crossover design.

Main Results:

• A 1°C increase in daily maximum temperature correlated with a 5.6% rise in venomous snakebite odds and a 5.8% rise in non-venomous snakebite odds.
• The association between temperature and snakebites was most pronounced during the spring season.
• A similar, though smaller, positive association was found for non-snake envenomations across seasons.

Conclusions:

• Short-term temperature fluctuations are a significant environmental risk factor for snakebites.
• Findings highlight the need to consider temperature in public health strategies for snakebite prevention.
• The study provides crucial epidemiologic data on temperature-related envenomation risks.