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Head herpetologist, Geofrey Maranga, handles an African puff adder during an extraction of it's venom to be used in research for the local production of antivenom at the Kenya Snakebite Research and Intervention Centre within the Institute of Primate Research (KIPRE) in Nairobi on March 7, 2025. The World Health Organization (WHO) categorized snakebite envenomation into the Category A of the Neglected Tropical Diseases due to high morbidity and mortality. Africa is amongst other regions that have low to non-availability of antivenom therapies. The Kenya Snakebite Research and Intervention Centre within the Institute of Primate Research (KIPRE) is in a race to research and develop antivenom locally, a first for Kenya and Eastern Africa, that have been over-reliant on imported antivenom from mainly Mexico and India despite wide-spread inefficacy as treatments in one region often do not effectively treat snake bites in another region. (Photo by Tony Karumba/AFP Photo)
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