A 26-year-old patient from Pinconning Township, Mich., was rushed to a nearby hospital July 14 after his pet albino monocled cobra bit him, sparking a multistate effort to find antivenom, according to Detroit Free Press.
After arriving at a Bay City-area hospital in Michigan, the patient was airlifted to Detroit Medical Center, due to the patient's respiratory muscles entering paralysis. Detroit Medical Center toxicologists reached out to Ohio-based, Toledo Zoo for vials of antivenom.
"However, the generic antivenom, which covers many, but not all species of poisonous snakes, had little effect and the patient's condition continued to worsen," Jason Barczy, DMC communications manager, told Detroit Free Press via email.
The patient's family helped physicians properly identify the species of the pet snake. The providers were then able to pinpoint the specific type of antivenom needed.
Meanwhile, the patient's symptoms worsened, forcing DMC officials to contact the Miami-Dade County Venom Response Program in Florida July 15. The organization sent 20 vials of antivenom that reached the patient for IV treatment later that afternoon.
The patient is still hospitalized and recovering, Mr. Barczy told Detroit Free Press.
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