Snakebite cases have risen in Faridpur amid fear over Russell's vipers, but doctors say most patients who reach hospital in time are recovering and antivenom stocks are adequate.
A 60-year-old woman bitten by a cobra died at Rajbari Sadar Hospital on 25 June, and her family has blamed the doctors for negligence.
A Supreme Court lawyer has served a legal notice asking the government to ensure antivenom in all hospitals, train doctors and make antivenom in Bangladesh.
A 40-year-old man was bitten while trying to kick a Russell's viper to death in Naria, Shariatpur, but doctors found no venom in his blood.
Two Russell's vipers were found in Kalapara, Patuakhali, on 25 June and rescued by the forest department with help from the group Animal Lovers.
A venomous snake found on the fourth floor of the Mirsharai upazila parishad complex in Chattogram was killed after staff took it for a Russell's viper.
Villagers in Jaldhaka, Nilphamari killed a snake and its 29 young on 24 June believing it a Russell's viper, but forest officials say it was a different, mildly venomous species.
A 60-year-old woman, Bhaduri Bewa, died of a snakebite in Bochaganj upazila of Dinajpur on 24 June.
Two snakes suspected to be Russell's vipers were beaten to death in Patgram, Lalmonirhat, though officials could not confirm the species.
Toxicologist Prof M A Faiz explains how snakebites are diagnosed and treated, what antivenom costs, and what to do and avoid after a bite.
A five-foot Russell's viper caught in a net in a homestead yard in Kalapara, Patuakhali, was killed, and crowds gathered to see it.
Russell's vipers are turning up across Rajshahi, but hospital data show most people bitten recover, even though most upazila health complexes lack antivenom.
Fear of Russell's vipers has spread across Noakhali's nine upazilas, and health officials say antivenom has been stocked in the district's hospitals.
