VietNamNet Bridge – Snake attacks have plagued the Mekong Delta's Can Tho City and Hau Giang Commune for nearly a month.

"I was clearing the bushes when the snake flew out and bit me. I rushed to the hospital," victim To Thanh Tam told Nguoi Lao Dong (The Labourer) newspaper, his right hand still swollen.— Photo nld

In Can Tho's Tra Noc district, almost no day has passed without a victim bitten, although locals have captured and killed dozens of green pit vipers.

"I was clearing the bushes when the snake flew out and bit me. I rushed to the hospital," victim To Thanh Tam told Nguoi Lao Dong (The Labourer) newspaper, his right hand still swollen.

Residents of Hau Giang's Long My, Phung Hiep and Vi Thuy communes even spotted snakes inside their houses, as well as in their gardens and fields. More than 20 Hau Giang residents have been bitten by the green pit viper since July, and one unlucky person was bitten twice, said mobile forest ranger vice captain Ngo Thanh Nha.

The appearance of the snakes at this time of year is not new, as the reptile typically breeds during the flood season. However, Nha said the snakes appeared more frequently this year because the government's recent defoliation of forest areas left the snakes with fewer places to live, forcing them to take shelter in houses and gardens.

Can Tho Military 121 Hospital's Gastroenterology Department Head Nguyen Van Vinh said that his department had been seeing about five such snakebites per week.

"Those bitten by this kind of snake will show symptoms of serious oedema, bleeding disorder or hemorrhage from nose, mouth and body pores," said Vinh. "The green pit viper is not a virulent species but its bite can be lethal if the victim is not treated in time."

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