Snakes and scorpions on the loose

02/07/2006 Naira MARTIROSYAN

There has been an increase in the number of snakes and scorpions during the past couple of years in Yerevan and this year is no exception.

According to entemologist of the Biological Institute of Armenia M. Marjanyan, there have always been the three poisonous types of scorpions-the yellow, the motely and the black, hard tail scorpion, but people see more and more scorpions as a result of the large-scale construction going on in the capital city of Armenia. According to Marjanyan, if a person gets a scorpion bite, he must cover the bite with iodine and fan it. There is no need to go to a clinic because doctors still haven’t found a cure for the poisonous bite. The antologist also said that a couple of years ago, a three-year old child died from a scorpion bite in one of the villages of Armenia, but research on the death is still underway.

As mentioned above, there is also an increase in the number of snakes. Snakes are also looking for places to hide. Citizens of Yerevan can see almost all types of poisonous snakes, including the viper. According to head of the Yerevan Zoo M. Abovyan, the zoo gets a minimum of five calls for help from visitors each day. Thanks to the zoo service team formed by the municipality, experts are hunting for the snakes and getting rid of them. Abovyan says that the ongoing construction and the heat are what allow more and more snakes to appear in the city.

“AntiGyurzin” is not included in the anti-bacteria medicine list that must be purchased. It’s imported from Uzbekistan by the “Nibfarm” company. Armenia imports 300 doses of medicine each year. The Health Ministry of Armenia has warned all hospitals/clinics of Armenia to provide anti-bacterial medicine in the reanimation departments. This means that they must have the “AntiGyurzin” drug. However, according to our sources, the “Armenia” state hospital’s toxicology department doesn’t have the medicine for even the worse cases.