The commissioner of Unity State’s Mayom County on Monday reported that a 50-year-old woman identified as Nyebany Mathiang Reath died after being bitten by a snake on Friday.
According to Luke Chierye Riek, this is the first death case after the county recorded 15 cases of snake bites in the last two weeks. He said the deceased was one of the flood-displaced people Riahah Payam.
“I am now giving awareness about snakebites to the community and for them to keep their environment clear and clean to avoid snake bites,” the commissioner said.
Snakes and other reptiles have been leaving flooded areas and competing for space on dry higher ground with flood-displaced people and their livestock.
For his part, Moses Kai, a resident of Mayom County, said the cases of snakebites were due to the floods and because there was not enough dry ground to accommodate people.
“The deceased died in the area where she was bitten by a snake in Riahah Payam and even if she had lasted long after the bite, she would not have survived because there is no medication or antivenoms in Mayom County generally,” he stated. “I am appealing to the state government to provide enough drugs to the people and areas affected by floods.