Global mortality of snakebite envenoming between 1990 and 2019
Authors:   GBD 2019 Snakebite Envenomation Collaborators, Roberts Nicholas L. S. , Johnson Emily K. , Zeng Scott M. , Hamilton Erin B. , Abdoli Amir , Alahdab Fares , Alipour Vahid , Ancuceanu Robert , Andrei Catalina Liliana , Anvari Davood , Arabloo Jalal , Ausloos Marcel , Awedew Atalel Fentahun , Badiye Ashish D. , Bakkannavar Shankar M. , Bhalla Ashish , Bhardwaj Nikha , Bhardwaj Pankaj , Bhaumik Soumyadeep , Bijani Ali , Boloor Archith , Cai Tianji , Carvalho Felix , Chu Dinh-Toi , Couto Rosa A. S. , Dai Xiaochen , Desta Abebaw Alemayehu , Do Hoa Thi , Earl Lucas , Eftekhari Aziz , Esmaeilzadeh Firooz , Farzadfar Farshad , Fernandes Eduarda , Filip Irina , Foroutan Masoud , Franklin Richard Charles , Gaidhane Abhay Motiramji , Gebregiorgis Birhan Gebresillassie , Gebremichael Berhe , Ghashghaee Ahmad , Golechha Mahaveer , Hamidi Samer , Haque Syed Emdadul , Hayat Khezar , Herteliu Claudiu , Ilesanmi Olayinka Stephen , Islam M. Mofizul , Jagnoor Jagnoor , Kanchan Tanuj , Kapoor Neeti , Khan Ejaz Ahmad , Khatib Mahalaqua Nazli , Khundkar Roba , Krishan Kewal , Kumar G. Anil , Kumar Nithin , Landires Iván , Lim Stephen S. , Madadin Mohammed , Maled Venkatesh , Manafi Navid , Marczak Laurie B. , Menezes Ritesh G. , Meretoja Tuomo J. , Miller Ted R. , Mohammadian-Hafshejani Abdollah , Mokdad Ali H. , Monteiro Francis N. P. , Moradi Maryam , Nayak Vinod C. , Nguyen Cuong Tat , Nguyen Huong Lan Thi , Nuñez-Samudio Virginia , Ostroff Samuel M. , Padubidri Jagadish Rao , Pham Hai Quang , Pinheiro Marina , Pirestani Majid , Quazi Syed Zahiruddin , Rabiee Navid , Radfar Amir , Rahimi-Movaghar Vafa , Rao Sowmya J. , Rastogi Prateek , Rawaf David Laith , Rawaf Salman , Reiner Robert C. , Sahebkar Amirhossein , Samy Abdallah M. , Sawhney Monika , Schwebel David C. , Senthilkumaran Subramanian , Shaikh Masood Ali , Skryabin Valentin Yurievich , Skryabina Anna Aleksandrovna , Soheili Amin , Stokes Mark A. , Thapar Rekha , Tovani-Palone Marcos Roberto , Tran Bach Xuan , Travillian Ravensara S. , Velazquez Diana Zuleika , Zhang Zhi-Jiang , Naghavi Mohsen , Dandona Rakhi , Dandona Lalit , James Spencer L. , Pigott David M. , Murray Christopher J. L. , Hay Simon I. , Vos Theo , Ong Kanyin Liane 
Published: October 2022

Snakebite envenoming is an important cause of preventable death. The World Health Organization (WHO) set a goal to halve snakebite mortality by 2030. We used verbal autopsy and vital registration data to model the proportion of venomous animal deaths due to snakes by location, age, year, and sex, and applied these proportions to venomous animal contact mortality estimates from the Global Burden of Disease 2019 study. In 2019, 63,400 people (95% uncertainty interval 38,900–78,600) died globally from snakebites, which was equal to an age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR) of 0.8 deaths (0.5–1.0) per 100,000 and represents a 36% (2–49) decrease in ASMR since 1990. India had the greatest number of deaths in 2019, equal to an ASMR of 4.0 per 100,000 (2.3—5.0). We forecast mortality will continue to decline, but not sufficiently to meet WHO’s goals. Improved data collection should be prioritized to help target interventions, improve burden estimation, and monitor progress.