Snakebite envenoming is a major neglected tropical health issue. The high incidence of snakebites in tropical rural communities suggests that venomous snakes and people are often in proximity but quantitative evidence is lacking. I used radio-telemetry on a population of Russell’s vipers (Daboia russelii), one of the most medically important snakes in the world, to quantify proximity between this venomous snake and people and estimate susceptibility to snakebite envenoming in India. I observed people ≤50 m of a radio-equipped viper in ~17% of 2,066 snake relocations. People were more frequently observed in proximity to Russell’s vipers in January and July compared to March, but all other contrasts were statistically similar. This pattern indicates that snakebite incidence, which peaks in summer in the study area, is not particularly linked to the encounter frequency between people and vipers. However, consistent with epidemiological data plantation workers were the most at-risk part of the population. By integrating information about the locations of humans and snakes in space and time, this pioneering research highlights the need to include snake ecology into the study of the human–venomous-snake conflict, and provides a model approach to help mitigate the burden caused by venomous snakes in the rural Tropics.

中文翻译：

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在热带农村社区，人类与具有高度医学意义的蛇（罗素蝰蛇）之间的距离很近

毒蛇咬伤是一个被忽视的主要热带健康问题。热带农村社区蛇咬伤的高发率表明毒蛇和人通常很接近，但缺乏定量证据。我在一群罗素毒蛇（Daboia russelii）上使用了无线电遥测技术)，世界上医学上最重要的蛇之一，以量化这种毒蛇与人之间的接近程度，并估计印度对蛇咬伤的易感性。我在 2,066 次蛇迁移中的约 17% 中观察到了 50 m 以内的配备无线电的毒蛇。与 3 月相比，1 月和 7 月人们更频繁地在罗素毒蛇附近观察到，但所有其他对比在统计上都相似。这种模式表明，蛇咬伤的发生率在研究区域的夏季达到高峰，与人与毒蛇之间的遭遇频率没有特别的联系。然而，与流行病学数据一致，种植园工人是人口中风险最高的部分。通过整合人类和蛇在空间和时间上的位置信息，