After being bitten in the toilet by a cobra during a South Africa safari trip, a man needed surgery to rebuild and repair his penis.
The Dutch 47 year-old went to the toilet while visiting a country nature reserve.
The man was bitten while he was on the toilet. Hidden within the bowl is a highly poisonous snouted snake.
The man, who was not identified, had to wait for three hours before being transported by helicopter to the nearest hospital. It was almost 220 miles (350km).
An unfortunate encounter in the toilet with a snouted cobra (pictured) left a 47-year-old Dutch requiring reconstructive surgery on his penis after the snake bite left him with rotting flesh in his genitals
At that moment, he felt a burning sensation in the genitals. The sensation caused his genitals to swell and turn violet, a sign he had scrotal necrosis.
Experts who reported the case in Urology Case Reports said the man has the unfortunate honour of being the first medical case of snouted cobra envenomation of the genitals.
The man received emergency treatment in South Africa, but serious tissue in his penis was not recoverable and had to be removed.
Nine days later, the Dutch national returned to the Netherlands. Here, even more of the dead penis tissue was removed.
The Dutch surgeons then began to rebuild his penis using a tissue graft they took from his stomach to replace the lost tissue from the snake bite.
In their comments on the case, they shared a funny message and offered some advice to those who are heading to the tropics.
“Always flush the toilet before you sit down in countries with a large snake population!” They wrote.
Necrosis, also known as the “flesh eating disorder”, is a potentially fatal condition that results from bacteria infecting the tissue underneath the skin and surrounding tissues.
The bacteria doesn’t eat the flesh, but they release toxins that cause tissue damage.
The man reportedly had both full function and sensation in the penis one year after the incident.
The venom of the snouted cobra, a species of snake that bit man, is not well understood. It was only discovered in 2009.
However, the Dutch medics who reported this case said that the presence in the Dutch man of a kidney damage is indicative of the type toxic toxins in the venomous snouted cobra.
This makes it quite unusual in terms of cobra species, the authors noted.
According to the medics, most snake bites occur on the extremities of people, with bites on their genitals being rare.
There are only three snake species in the UK. Only one, the adder, has venom.
According to Amphibian and Reptile Conservation there are an average of 100 adder bites per year in the UK.
These are rare cases of death, with 14 deaths from adder bites recorded since 1876, the last in 1975.
People who have been bitten by an Adder or are with someone who has been bit should still call 999.
There are many snake species that can be venomous and are available as pets in the UK.
Snake bites in the US are much more common. An average of 7,000 to 8,000 people get bitten annually, with approximately five of these being fatal.
North America is home to many types of venomous snakes including rattlesnakes.
NECROTIZING FASCIITIS: THE VICIOUS FASCIITIS BACTERIA
The stock photo above shows a leg with necrotizing fasciitis.
Necrotizing fasciitis is also known as ‘flesh eating disease’. It is a very rare, but deadly, bacterial infection. Necrotizing is a condition that causes tissue to die. It can also cause skin, muscle, and fat to disappear.
The bacteria enters your body through minor cuts and scrapes. The bacteria multiplies and releases toxins that kill tissue and reduce blood flow.
It is extremely infectious and spreads quickly throughout the body.
The symptoms include red bumps or small lumps on the skin, rapid-spreading swelling, sweating, fever, nausea, and chills. Common complications include organ failure and shock.
To prevent death, patients must be treated immediately. Usually, they are given powerful antibiotics and a procedure to remove any tissue. If the disease spreads to an arm or leg, amputation may be necessary.
After the infection has cleared up patients may need to have skin grafts. This is done either for aesthetic reasons or to speed up the healing process.
There are 500 to 1,500 reported cases per year, but 20 to 25% of victims die.
Necrosis refers to the irreversible process in which body tissue dies due to too little blood flow