Introduction
Horses play an essential role in creating antivenom, a life-saving treatment for snake bites. Snake venom contains toxic substances that can cause serious health issues, from local tissue damage to dangerous effects on the heart and nerves. Antivenom helps neutralize these toxins, making it crucial for saving lives, especially in areas with high rates of venomous snake bites.
How Horses Help in Antivenom Production
The process of making antivenom begins by injecting horses with small, non-lethal doses of snake venom. These doses gradually train the horses’ immune systems to create special antibodies that can neutralize the venom. Over time, horses build a strong immune response and become “hyper-immune,” meaning they can tolerate and fight off the venom effectively.
After a sufficient response is built up, blood is drawn from the horses. The blood is carefully processed to separate the plasma, the component that contains the valuable antibodies. These antibodies are then purified, sterilized, and packaged as antivenom.
Why Horses Are Ideal for This Process
Horses are particularly suited for anti-venom production due to their large size and strong immune response. Their size allows them to donate more blood without harming their health, and their immune systems can safely handle multiple types of venom. This means one horse can help create antivenoms for several different snake species making the process more efficient.
Examples from Around the World
Institutions like the Clodomiro Picado Institute in Costa Rica and the Summerland Serum Laboratory in Australia use horses to produce antivenoms for humans and even pets. By keeping horses in good health and ensuring ethical practices, these facilities produce thousands of doses annually, helping people worldwide.
Benefits and Challenges
Using horses for anti-venom production has several advantages. Horses produce large quantities of antibodies, making it possible to produce a high yield of antivenom. Additionally, their immune response allows for the creation of antivenoms effective against different snake species. However, maintaining horse health and ethical standards is a priority, as frequent blood draws and venom injections need to be done carefully.
Future of Antivenom Production
Though horses remain the primary source for antivenom, scientists are researching alternatives like lab-grown antibodies. While promising, these alternatives are still under development and may take time to replace horse-derived antivenoms entirely.
Conclusion
Horses are invaluable in the fight against snakebite fatalities, providing essential antibodies to save countless lives. As science advances, the partnership between veterinary and medical science continues to drive improvements in antivenom production, aiming for broader, more ethical, and more effective solutions
References
Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD). (2019, May 16). Snakebite envenoming — A strategy for prevention and control. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241515641
History of the Clodomiro Picado Institute | Instituto Clodomiro Picado. (n.d.). https://www.icp.ucr.ac.cr/en/about-cpi/history-clodomiro-picado-institute
Harrison, R. A., Oluoch, G. O., Ainsworth, S., Alsolaiss, J., Bolton, F., Arias, A., Gutiérrez, J., Rowley, P., Kalya, S., Ozwara, H., & Casewell, N. R. (2017). Preclinical antivenom-efficacy testing reveals potentially disturbing deficiencies of snakebite treatment capability in East Africa. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 11(10), e0005969. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0005969
Herbert, B. (2016, December 19). Horses provide life-saving snake antivenom for pets. ABC News. https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2016-12-19/snake-antivenom-thanks-to-former-racehorses/8131990
Laustsen, A. H. (2017). Guiding recombinant antivenom development by omics technologies. New Biotechnology, 45, 19–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nbt.2017.05.005
