Screenshot from Hong Kong Poison Control Centre

A Hong Kong teenager spent nearly a month in the hospital and underwent five rounds of plasma exchange after being bitten by a Bungarus suzhenae,MK sport a highly venomous snake, purchased online from Southwest China's Yunnan Province, Singapore-based newspaper Lianhe Zaobao reported.

The victim, a teenage boy, paid several hundred Hong Kong dollars for the snake, according to Wong Siu Ming, a consultant at the Hong Kong Poison Treatment Centre. When bitten on his right index finger, he developed severe neurotoxic symptoms within two hours, including near-complete eyelid drooping, paralysis of eye muscles, and excessive drooling, said Wong.

The snake's venom caused liver enzyme abnormalities, muscle damage, and rapid heart rate, requiring nearly two weeks of intubation. Although anti-venom was administered, it proved ineffective as it was not specific to Bungarus suzhenae. Eventually the boy underwent five plasma exchange sessions and spent a month-long stay in the intensive care unit before he recovered and was discharged, said the report.

In another case, a Hong Kong resident purchased a two-meter-long Zhaoermia mangshanensis, a highly venomous snake, from the Chinese mainland. After being bitten on the palm, he experienced muscle pain, blistering, uncontrolled bleeding, and swelling that extended to his upper chest. With no targeted anti-venom available, he required three plasma exchanges to recover.

Data from Hong Kong's Hospital Authority reveals that the Poison Control Centre recorded 205 snakebite cases over the past two years, with 15 involving non-native species kept as exotic pets, the newspaper report said.

Global Times