(Health Times reporter Li Guilan Intern reporter Li Xuanzhang/Wen Health Times reporter Niu Hongchao/Photo)
Snake keeper Wei Ningxiang showed the cobra to reporters, and Niu Hongchao, a reporter from the Health Times, took a photo
"Jie (this) cobra looks pretty good, wow, you see Jie (this) skin is smooth and shiny." A middle-aged man with a thick Guangxi accent is standing at the door of the snake barn made of hollow bricks, holding a snake catching stick in his right hand and carrying a snake tail in his left hand. He is Wei Ningxiang, a snake farmer who has been dealing with snakes for more than ten years.
In Guangxi, many villagers are engaged in snake breeding, and they have used this to get rid of poverty and even get rich, and Wei Ningxiang is one of them. However, 2020 was an extraordinary year for him, and under the new crown pneumonia epidemic, he almost lost his job as a snake farmer.
Raising snakes for more than ten years, encountering the strictest "ban on wild animals" in history
The world raises snakes in China, and China raises snakes to see Guangxi.
According to the Nanguo Morning Post, The scale of Guangxi's snake breeding industry is huge, with nearly 20 million finished snakes in stock, accounting for 70% of the national total and 49.3% of the total number of artificially bred terrestrial wild animals in the region. According to China Green Times, in 2019, only 4.2 million cobras and mouse snakes were farmed in Lingshan County, Guangxi, with an output value of 1.1 billion yuan and an income of 593 million yuan, of which 488 million yuan was earned from the sale of meat snakes and 105 million yuan from the sale of snake eggs. The output value of conventional breeding mu is 1.12 million yuan, and the output value of high-density breeding mu is as high as 1.89 million yuan.
Guangxi has long been famous for snakes, not only many poisonous snakes, but also the number of snake species in the country. White-lipped bamboo leaf green, gray-blue flat-tailed sea snake, viper, golden ring snake, king cobra, original spearhead viper, round spot viper, Zhoushan cobra, silver ring snake, white-browed pit viper... More than 1,200 years ago, after Liu Zongyuan was demoted to Yongzhou, he wrote the "Snake Catcher's Saying" that has been passed down to posterity: "The wild snake of Yongzhou: black matter and white chapter, touching the grass and trees to death; to eat people, no emperors." If you have to take it as bait, you can have strong winds, cramps, fistulas, go to dead muscles, and kill three insects. ”
Professor Li Qibin, vice president of the Chinese Snake Association, president of the Guangxi Snake Research Association, and director of the Snake Venom Snake Injury Research Office of the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, said in an interview with the Health Times reporter that the whole body of the snake is a treasure, and the snake is a necessary animal for the human body to have 8 kinds of amino acids such as lysine, tryptophan, phenylalanine, methionine, threonine, isoleucine, leucine, valine and other 8 kinds of amino acids and trace elements selenium, zinc, chromium and other high content of animals. Snake meat is a food rich in high-quality protein, essential amino acids and various useful trace elements of the human body, which has high nutritional value and health care and medicinal functions.
Wei Ningxiang inspects the situation of the snake farm, and Niu Hongchao, a reporter of the Health Times, takes a photo
The suitable living environment for snakes is high temperature, high humidity, vegetation, dense lakes and rivers, and a rich number of food species. The natural climatic conditions in Guangxi are just right for the environment that snakes need. Yongzhou, Hunan, more than 100 kilometers southwest, arrives at Xing'an County in Guilin City. Since ancient times, the tradition of catching and eating snakes has flourished. The annual consumption of snakes in Liangguang and Hong Kong is even more staggering. According to reports, snakes not only appear on the table in the form of snake meat, snake oil, snake blood, snake gall, and snake venom have extremely high medicinal value. From the book "Guangxi Zhuang Medicine" that has been published, it can be seen that all kinds of common snakes in China are in the directory of Zhuang Medicine. Snakes are effective in treating common diseases such as tumors and diabetes.
Although the species and number of snakes in Guangxi rank high in the country, with the increasing prevalence of human hunting and trafficking activities, the number of wild snakes is decreasing, and many wild venomous snakes are on the verge of extinction. It is precisely because the number of snakes is becoming increasingly scarce, so that the price of snakes is increasing, in this context, the scale of artificial snake breeding in Guangxi has shown an upward trend in the past decade or so. Due to the success of artificial breeding of snakes such as cobras and mouse snakes, people no longer catch wild snakes and really promote the protection of snakes.
In March 2018, the Guangxi Snake Research Association, with the support of professors and experts from Guangxi University, Guangxi Medical University and the Snake Breeding Professional Committee of the China Wildlife Conservation Association, also launched the evaluation of professional titles for snake breeding professionals.
After entering 2020, the lives of snake farmers have changed.
On February 24, 2020, the 16th session of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress deliberated and adopted a decision on completely banning illegal wildlife trade, eliminating the bad habit of indiscriminately eating wild animals, and effectively protecting the people's life, health and safety, which came into effect on the date of promulgation. After the promulgation of the strictest "ban on wild animals" in history, various localities have introduced relevant policies to resolutely eliminate the bad habit of indiscriminately eating wild animals.
On May 29, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs announced the National Inventory of Livestock and Poultry Genetic Resources, which for the first time identified 33 types of livestock and poultry raised in the country. Bamboo rats, snakes, porcupines, frogs, etc. are not included.
Wei Ningxiang was checking the snake's situation, and Niu Hongchao, a reporter from the Health Times, took a photo
"The snakes that have been raised for more than ten years and invested a lot of money were really a bit panicked at that time." Recalling half a year ago, Wei Ningxiang still remembers it vividly.
On the website of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, a netizen left a message on April 30, 2020: I hope that the state and the party will retain the special snake breeding program, support the livelihood of farmers, run a well-off life, and do not let farmers fight poverty...
In addition to the snake farmers who are anxious, there are also people's congress deputies who are also worried about this. On September 4, 2020, on the website of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, in response to Recommendation No. 8397 of the Third Session of the Thirteenth National People's Congress, in response to the suggestion made by Deputy Wu Jieqiu on supporting the artificial breeding industry of wild animals in Guangxi, it was mentioned that in the process of public solicitation of opinions on the National Inventory of Livestock and Poultry Genetic Resources, some localities and farmers suggested that snakes, bamboo rats and other wild animals in captivity be included in the Catalogue, but some of these wild animals in captivity are not artificially raised for a long time, and some species sources need to be collected from the wild. It is difficult to distinguish from wild populations, some public health risks are unclear, some do not belong to the scope of mammals and birds, do not have the standards and conditions of livestock and poultry, should not be included in the Catalogue, and continue to be managed in accordance with the Wildlife Protection Law and other laws and regulations.
This means that farmers' snake breeding will no longer be used for food, and it is in urgent need of transformation and development.
Fasting is not the same as fasting. The Health Times reporter found that on May 12, the Forestry Bureau of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, together with multiple departments in the region, held a signing ceremony for the investment of the Guangxi snake industry transformation and upgrading project, and the artificial breeding snake industry in Guangxi was transformed and upgraded to a large health industry such as national medicine, beauty and health care, and daily chemical industry. On June 16, the Forestry Bureau of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and the Department of Finance jointly issued the Guiding Opinions on the Disposal of Artificially Bred Terrestrial Wild Animals in Guangxi, encouraging snake farmers to participate in the transformation and upgrading of the snake industry, promoting the healthy and sustainable development of the industry, boosting the development of ethnic medicine, and reducing the risk of unemployment and poverty.
Wei Ningxiang and the villagers found life in the snake breeding.
Workers check the snake's condition in the snake barn, and Niu Hongchao, a reporter for the Health Times, took a photo
In order to get rich, returning to poverty has become helpless after being injured by snakes
In Fusui County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, locals have an inexplicable fate with snakes. In the local area, there has always been the habit of catching snakes, selling snakes, and eating snakes. A sack and a snake-catching stick gathered all the belongings for catching snakes.
"They like walls (hidden) in corners where humidity and temperature are more suitable, especially behind stones and walls. When you find a snake, don't yell. While slowly squatting down, adjust the snake-catching stick in your hand and find an angle that is most comfortable to hold. Then say "late" then fast! Seeing the timing, he grabbed the place more than ten centimeters behind its head with a stick, and then lifted the snake's tail with the other hand. These two are exquisite in one go, and the power of not catching dozens of snakes is to suck (cast) and show that the drops (of) cannot be found. ”
When Wei Ningxiang told the Health Times reporter about his experience of catching snakes, he saw that the corners of his mouth were slightly raised, with the left and right swaying of his head. Although more than ten years have passed, there is still a proud look on his face.
Beginning in 2006, Wei Ningxiang gave up more than a decade of veterinary work and began to contact snakes. At the beginning of his business, he accumulated the "first bucket of snakes" by catching snakes and asking each other between friends. When the reporter asked him why he did not rely on catching snakes to sell snakes, but changed to raising snakes, he immediately became serious with a proud expression.
"It takes a few to catch a day by hand, and whether you can meet a snake in the mountains is unknown." If you want to earn money from snakes, you still have to raise (is) on a large scale. Wei Ningxiang introduced that from 2006, he began to contact this industry, to the full start of profitability, which he stayed up for four years.
Relying on the money earned by raising snakes, Wei Ningxiang not only provided for his two children to go to college, but also bought a house, a car, and started a company. Now Wei Ningxiang is a well-known local snake farmer, his Shiziling snake farm covers an area of 12 acres, with 600 snake warehouses, more than 36,000 snakes, and an annual output value of 5 million yuan.
Wei Ningxiang's three-dimensional farm, downstairs a room and a courtyard to give the snake enough space to move, the roof of the water to raise frogs, not only to ensure the relatively low temperature indoors, but also to provide feed for snakes, Health Times reporter Niu Hongchao photographed
"I was actually very afraid of snakes, and I remember when I was a child, I drove a few ducks (sons) to the paddy field, and I just took a few steps on the field. Seeing a few meters away from me, a small snake, that is, fifty or sixty centimeters, scared me to the point that the ducks did not want it, pulled my legs and ran, hahahahaha. Wei Ningxiang recalled his reaction to seeing the snake when he was a child, and he couldn't help but laugh.
"Have you ever been bitten by a snake?" Hearing the reporter's question, Wei Ningxiang's smile seemed to freeze in the air. In silence, he rubbed his hands, frowned slightly, and looked in the direction of the snake barn, and the look of laughter before disappeared.
"Dang Yan, I've been bitten by a cobra." Wei Ningxiang introduced, all said "hit the grass to startle the snake", but in fact, the grass does not scare the snake, at least, the poisonous snake will not run away because of the grass, but will also be alert and enter the attack state.
However, snakebites are avoided in daily work. Checking the growth of snakes, cleaning snake barns, bagging and sorting, transportation and other links, there is a risk of snake bites.
The Jingxi Rescue and Treatment Center for Snake Injuries in Guixi District was photographed by Niu Hongchao, a reporter of The Health Times
Among them, there is a saying "golden three minutes, save yourself", which means that after being bitten by a snake, simple treatment is taken immediately, such as cutting the wound, sucking it with a drug addict, bandaging it, etc. Wei Ningxiang said that in the process of breeding, even if you wear thick rubber gloves, there are always some times when you operate with your bare hands, in this case, the chance of being bitten by a snake is relatively large.
It is roughly estimated that the annual number of snake bites in China reaches millions, of which about 100,000 to 300,000 people are bitten by venomous snakes, more than 70% are young adults, the case fatality rate is about 5%, and the snake bites are disabled and affect labor producers as high as 25% to 30%, bringing a heavy burden to society and families. Snake bites occur in remote rural areas, and there is still a lack of epidemiological monitoring and reporting systems in China, and the incidence of snake bites is seriously underestimated.
Professor Wang Chuanlin, president of the Animal Injury Treatment Branch of the Chinese Medical Rescue Association, deputy director of the Emergency Department of Peking University People's Hospital and deputy director of the Trauma Treatment Center, introduced that after being bitten by a snake, it is necessary to quickly detach from the snake to avoid secondary bites, and at the same time remember the shape of the snake to identify whether it is a poisonous snake bite, and then classify it. If it is a non-venomous snake bite, it is treated as a normal animal bite. If it is a venomous snake bite, the wound should be rinsed immediately, the toxin content in the wound should be minimized as soon as possible, the unabsorbed toxin is sucked out with a drug device, and the toxin is prevented from continuing to absorb, and the nearest doctor is consulted to let the professional identify the type of poisonous snake, and the corresponding antivenom is used as soon as possible; and various complications are prevented.
Snake venom is a toxin that acts on the human body very quickly, and it is often a matter of time to rescue patients with snake bites. Li Qibin said that to rescue patients with snake bites, first of all, let the patients identify the type of snake according to the map, after determining the poisonous snake, in addition to effective wound treatment, it is necessary to quickly inject the corresponding antivenom and correctly prevent tetanus. If you are bitten by a non-venomous snake, you cannot take chances, and you must also correctly prevent and prevent the risk of tetanus.
"Many snake farmers, who come into contact with snakes every day, often pay attention to the treatment after the bite of poisonous snakes, because the toxins will spread rapidly and endanger lives, but as everyone knows, if the non-venomous snake bites are ignored, they will also threaten life." Wang Chuanlin introduced that as long as there is a wound, there is a potential risk of tetanus, and animal bites such as snake bites are high-risk exposures to tetanus.
According to Wang Chuanlin, patients with severe tetanus can have laryngeal spasms, asphyxia, lung infections and organ failure, and severe tetanus, especially the elderly, infants and young children, have a case fatality rate of nearly 100% without medical intervention, and even after active comprehensive treatment, the global case fatality rate is still 30% to 50%. Even in china's tetanus treatment experienced hospitals, even if the patient is treated in time, the case fatality rate is about 10%. So tetanus is an extremely serious potentially fatal disease. The most important solution is to prevent the patient from developing tetanus.
Professor Wang Chuanlin, president of the Animal Injury Treatment Branch of the China Medical Rescue Association, deputy director of the Emergency Department of Peking University People's Hospital, and deputy director of the Trauma Treatment Center, examined the wounds left by snake owners after being bitten by snakes, and Niu Hongchao, a reporter of Health Times, took a photo
Li Qibin introduced to reporters that because of raising snakes, he once saw with his own eyes what is called family destruction and death. Many years ago, a snake farmer, after being bitten by a poisonous snake, did not get correct and timely treatment, the patient died, the wife remarried, and the children changed households.
For snake farmers, dealing with snakes is no less dangerous than seeking skin with tigers, whether they are bitten by poisonous or non-venomous snakes, or when preparing meat for snakes, there is a potential risk of Clostridium tetanus infection. If it is not handled properly, the consequences are unbearable. Originally a snake breeding industry that was lifted out of poverty and became rich, it is very likely that it will return to poverty due to snake bites.
The risk of the snake keeper and the snake is more lamentable than the story in the fable "The Farmer and the Snake", because the snake bites the person in the fable has a definite time, waiting until the snake's body is covered with heat. And the snake keeper never knows whether the snake that gets along day and night will leave scars on his body in the next second.
Wei Ningxiang said to the Health Times reporter while pointing to the two needle-sized marks on his right hand, "You see, this is what was left after being bitten by a cobra, I was flipping over the snakes in the warehouse to check their situation, and if one didn't pay attention, it bit me, this guy, the best at sneak attacks!" With that, he went again to busy giving snake Zhang Luo food.
List of patients who were bitten by snakes in the emergency department of the hospital, taken by Niu Hongchao, a reporter of the Health Times
More than 60,000 people have a snake breeding scale, and 0 snake bite emergency treatment institutions
As the saying goes, "Always walk by the river, where there are shoes that are not wet." "Fusui County has a population of more than 400,000, according to incomplete statistics, 10,000 households raise snakes, and more than 30,000 people are engaged in operation." For local snake farmers in Fusui County, snake bites are relatively common, and almost every snake keeper has had the experience of being bitten by a snake.
Compared with the huge scale of snake farming in the local area, the construction of first aid measures and institutions to treat snake bites is completely disproportionate. According to Li Qibin, there is no special snake bite emergency agency in Fusui County. "I have been engaged in snake bite first aid treatment for 20 or 30 years, and Nanning has established a provincial, municipal and county three-level treatment center for snake bites. As for Fusui County, there is not even a special emergency agency in the area. ”
This time, the Health Times reporter followed the Animal Injury Treatment Branch of the China Medical Rescue Association to investigate the treatment of local snake bites.
After being bitten by a snake, the most critical thing is on-site first aid and as soon as possible to a professional medical institution for professional and standardized treatment, fighting for time is the most important thing, if after being bitten by a snake in the local area, the hospital can not deal with it at the first time, and so on to send to the hospital with conditions to treat, the patient has missed the best time. Wang Chuanlin said.
Fusui County is a county under the jurisdiction of Chongzuo City, located east of Chongzuo and west of Nanning. From the distance point of view, Fusui is 76 kilometers away from Chongzuo City and 70 kilometers away from Nanning. Since there is no special snake bite treatment agency in the local area, after the snake bite occurs, it is mostly sent to Nanning for treatment, and the time spent on the road is more than an hour.
"A patient I received who was bitten by a king cobra and rushed to our hospital after a simple local treatment, had been waiting for more than half an hour. At this time, he already had symptoms of breathing difficulties, but fortunately, the hospital was our snake wound secondary treatment point and equipped with a full range of serum and rescue equipment. After our rescue, the snake venom and breathing difficulties were controlled, and he was discharged from the hospital about two days after being transferred. Therefore, it is particularly important to establish a sound snake bite emergency response organization. Professor Lin Qiqing, director of the Guangxi Guixi Snake Injury Treatment Center and emergency department of Youjiang College for Nationalities, who has established a good snake injury first aid network, introduced.
Registration form for the treatment of snake wounds and poisonous insect bites in the emergency department of the hospital, photographed by Niu Hongchao, a reporter of The Health Times
If the patient is sent to the rescue center for more than an hour, most of them will have symptoms of breathing difficulties and decreased consciousness because of the spread of snake venom, and it will be very difficult for the patient to identify the type of snake at this time, which will bring great difficulty to the rescue.
As far as Guangxi is concerned, with Nanning as the center, the establishment of snake bite treatment centers has formed a "east, west, south, south, and middle" treatment network in the shape of "meters", and snake bite emergency centers have been established in Wuzhou, Youjiang, Yulin, Guilin, Hechi, Hezhou and other places. Li Qibin introduced that the snake wound treatment model of the current tertiary hospitals in Guangxi, with the emergency department as the main position, is equipped with special equipment and medicines for snake wound treatment in the emergency department.
However, for snake farmers, their farms are usually built on the outskirts far from the center of the city, and after being bitten by a snake, even if they have a certain amount of first aid knowledge, there is still only a limit to what they can do in terms of true self-help. If possible, you can drive to the hospital in the city for treatment. Those who do not have the conditions often choose to seek help from "snake doctors" and herbs.
Snake wounds are partial and first aided, taken by Niu Hongchao, a reporter of the Health Times
Since the treatment of snake bites is a race against time, the most effective treatment for farmers is to take scientific self-help measures immediately after being bitten. At present, Guangxi has formed a three-level rescue and treatment center for provinces, cities and counties, but in Li Qibin's view, the development of a fourth-level treatment center, equipped with the equipment and equipment required for emergency treatment in the village health center, and even the establishment of a fifth-level rescue station, snake farmers to configure first aid related instruments, such as first aid kits, drug addicts, potassium permanganate, anti-snake venom, etc., all need to be put on the agenda.
The establishment of snake injury specialties as soon as possible, the training of doctors who are good at snake injury first aid, and the formulation of unified standards and effective methods for the diagnosis and treatment of snake injuries should be urgent problems that need to be solved at present.
Under the impetus of Wang Chuanlin, in May 2018, the Animal Injury Treatment Branch of the China Medical Rescue Association was officially established. In September this year, the first "Specifications for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Animal Injuries in China" was released. The Code covers more than 20 categories of common animals, including dogs, centipedes, horses, leeches, ants, jellyfish, wasps, snakes, monkeys, horses, cats, rodents, ticks, poultry, stone fish, scorpions, ferrets, spiders, pigs, poisonous cryptoptera, SPF-level laboratory animals, etc.
Wang Chuanlin revealed that a training textbook for the diagnosis and treatment of animal injuries is currently being prepared. The "China Animal Injury Diagnosis and Treatment Norms" will also be upgraded from group standards to industry standards and will be implemented in hospitals across the country. "I believe that by then, the level of snake injury treatment will have a qualitative leap."
Raising snakes is inevitable to encounter snake bites, and when talking about future plans, Wei Ningxiang squatted down, gently opened the blanket on the snake barn, and said slowly: "Taking care of them is all my plan." ”