"Snake Tale: How Venom Binds U.S., Iran"

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chris_mcmartin
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"Snake Tale: How Venom Binds U.S., Iran"

Post by chris_mcmartin »

Relations between Iran and the U.S. are poisonous, with one exception: an antidote for snake bites.

In a surprising—and irony-rich—byproduct of the Afghan war, the Pentagon finds itself dependent on a scientific research arm of the Iranian government to treat bites by Oxus cobras, Haly's pit vipers and other snakes peculiar to the battlefields of southwest Asia.

Despite U.S.-led international sanctions designed to paralyze Iran's trade with the outside world, the Defense Department buys the drugs through a middleman, with orders totaling 115 vials at $310 apiece since January 2011.

. . .

There are 13 species of venomous snakes in Afghanistan, many of which are also found in Iran. There is the Oxus cobra, which can be aggressive when protecting a nest. "When biting they hold on and chew savagely," the Army Public Health Service warns in posters hung around bases in Afghanistan. Haly's pit viper has hinged, tubular fangs that fold back into its mouth. Untreated, its venom causes pain, blistering, hemorrhaging and "digestion of tissue around the bite wound," the Army warns. The Levantine viper is "unpredictable, and they may strike quickly and savagely at any time," the Army says. Saw-scaled vipers are "extremely short-tempered" and, though they will usually slither away from a confrontation, "have been reported to chase victims aggressively."

. . .

U.S. military doctors in Afghanistan have administered 21 doses of Razi antivenin since January 2011, all of them to Afghan children, say military records.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... 37342.html
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dery
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Re: "Snake Tale: How Venom Binds U.S., Iran"

Post by dery »

chris_mcmartin wrote:
Relations between Iran and the U.S. are poisonous, with one exception: an antidote for snake bites.

In a surprising—and irony-rich—byproduct of the Afghan war, the Pentagon finds itself dependent on a scientific research arm of the Iranian government to treat bites by Oxus cobras, Haly's pit vipers and other snakes peculiar to the battlefields of southwest Asia.

Despite U.S.-led international sanctions designed to paralyze Iran's trade with the outside world, the Defense Department buys the drugs through a middleman, with orders totaling 115 vials at $310 apiece since January 2011.

. . .

There are 13 species of venomous snakes in Afghanistan, many of which are also found in Iran. There is the Oxus cobra, which can be aggressive when protecting a nest. "When biting they hold on and chew savagely," the Army Public Health Service warns in posters hung around bases in Afghanistan. Haly's pit viper has hinged, tubular fangs that fold back into its mouth. Untreated, its venom causes pain, blistering, hemorrhaging and "digestion of tissue around the bite wound," the Army warns. The Levantine viper is "unpredictable, and they may strike quickly and savagely at any time," the Army says. Saw-scaled vipers are "extremely short-tempered" and, though they will usually slither away from a confrontation, "have been reported to chase victims aggressively."

. . .

U.S. military doctors in Afghanistan have administered 21 doses of Razi antivenin since January 2011, all of them to Afghan children, say military records.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... 37342.html
Interesting job for the DOD.
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