Ethnophamacological Survey of Snake Bite Treatment in Ukerewe Island, Tanzania

Snakebites envenomation is an important public health problem in many tropical and subtropical countries and the most affected being farmers, pastoralists, hunters and children. Most of the snakebite morbidity and mortality remain undocumented especially in rural areas since most incidences of snakebite are attended by traditional healers/herbalists mainly by using plants. Pharmacological studies have shown that the extracts and fractions from some of the plants used in traditional medicine are able to antagonize the activity of various crude venoms and purified toxins. Previous ethnopharmacological surveys in Tanzania recorded a number of plants used for snakebite treatment. There is still a large uncovered area of Tanzania where such studies need to be conducted for recording useful medicinal plants. This study was aimed at documenting traditional methods and plants used against snake bites in Ukerewe island as an effort to document useful information. Five Information Providers were face-to-face interviewed guided by semi-structured questions and data recorded in the questionnaire. Nine plant species belonging to eight families were recorded. To our understanding, Conyza canadensis, Ximenia caffra, Phaseolus radiate as well as magnets are reported for first time as antisnake bites. Traditional methods reported in this study are tourniquets and snake stones. Ethnopharmacological studies focusing on plants used against snake bites in the same area and others will facilitate documentation of more useful medicinal plants while scientific verification to confirm efficacy and safety is essential. Furthermore, bioguided isolation of active compounds and or standardization of the drugs are worth doing.