Deadly Snake Hiding In Toilet Bites Man On His Genitals, Causing Acute Scrotal Necrosis

A 47-year-old man’s joyous vacation turned into a painful experience after he was bitten in the genitals by a deadly snake.

The unidentified man was using the toilet while holidaying in South Africa when a snouted cobra that was sitting in the toilet bowl bit his genitals, an article by Urology Case Reports stated.

The man immediately felt a burning sensation in his genitals and "a pain that ascended through his groin to his flank, upper chest, and abdomen."

After waiting for three hours, the man was airlifted to a hospital that was 218 miles away, Latestly reported.

Upon reaching the hospital, doctors noticed that his genitals were swollen and purple in color. This indicated that he had scrotal necrosis, which is an acute necrotic infection of the scrotum.

He was administered with anti-venom and admitted to intensive care for observation. He underwent several medical procedures at the hospital, including surgical debridement, before he was transferred to a hospital in the Netherlands where he underwent penile shaft debridement.

"Snakebites usually occur on the extremities, with few reports of bites to the genitals. Ours is the first case describing N. annulifera envenomation of the genitals. Treatment requires snake venom antiserum and broad-spectrum antibiotic administration, with some cases also needing surgical debridement, renal or respiratory failure management, and possibly even resuscitation. Genital function and esthetics have a good chance of recovery if treatment is early, although esthetic surgery should only be performed after the acute phase," the author of the journal wrote.

In a similar incident in Thailand, a woman was hospitalized after a seven-foot-long snake bit her while she was using the toilet. Boonsong Plaikaew felt a searing pain while using the toilet and noticed blood gushing down her legs. She turned to find a snake hiding inside the toilet. The snake then bit her again on the finger. She managed to pull it off her fingers and threw it on the floor before rushing outside to inform her husband about it. Snake catchers arrived at the scene and removed the reptile.