Snakebites Killed 110 People in Nepal Over Six Months, NDRRMA Data Show

Snakebites have killed 110 people in Nepal over the past six months, more than any other disaster, NDRRMA, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, reported, according to data carried by Onlinekhabar on Tuesday, October 20.

The toll covers Baishakh 1 to Kartik 3 of the Nepali year 2083 BS, from mid April to 10 am on Kartik 3, October 20, Onlinekhabar reported. Snakebites caused 1,622 incidents in that period and injured 1,525 more people, affecting 1,627 families, according to the authority's figures. Bites have not stopped with the monsoon. In the 24 hours to 10 am on Kartik 3, five snakebites in five districts injured nine people, NDRRMA said, Onlinekhabar reported.

Across the same six months, Nepal recorded 386 disaster deaths out of 7,439 incidents nationwide, leaving 14 people missing, 2,433 injured and 9,525 families affected, Onlinekhabar reported, citing NDRRMA. Snakebite was the single deadliest hazard. Landslides killed 76 people. Floods killed 41. Lightning killed 36. Fire killed 29, altitude sickness killed 26, animal attacks killed 21, snow avalanches killed 19, windstorms killed 16 and heavy rain killed seven, according to the same breakdown. Those ten causes, snakebite included, add up to 381 deaths. The bulletin as reported does not break down the other five.

NDRRMA said its count does not include deaths from the Bhotekoshi and Budhigandaki floods, Onlinekhabar reported. That means the real disaster toll for the period runs higher than 386.

This is not new this year. An earlier NDRRMA bulletin, reported by Pardafas, had already counted 54 snakebite deaths out of 196 total disaster deaths by Shrawan 17, with snakebite already the leading cause of death at that point. The toll climbed through the rest of the monsoon and into autumn to reach 110 by Kartik 3.

Ratopati reported 106 snakebite deaths in six months, citing NDRRMA figures, days before NDRRMA's Kartik 3 bulletin put the count at 110. The count rose by four between the two bulletins.

Government guidelines name farmers, plantation workers, herders and fishermen in the Tarai plains as most exposed, and warn that sleeping on floors in open style homes raises the risk of nighttime bites during the monsoon, The Himalayan Times reported, citing the Ministry of Health and Population's national snakebite management guidelines. Antivenom is the only specific treatment, the guidelines say, and delay in reaching a hospital is the leading cause of death.

What the coverage missed

NDRRMA's six month count looks small next to independent research on Nepal's yearly burden. The Lancet Global Health has estimated around 40,000 snakebites a year in Nepal, with more than 3,000 deaths, The Himalayan Times reported. The World Health Organization puts the annual toll between 1,000 and more than 2,700 deaths, depending on method, the newspaper reported. The gap means 110 is not Nepal's full snakebite toll.

Separately, Nepal Police recorded 70 snakebite deaths and 532 injuries in the first five months of the last fiscal year, Shrawan to Mangsir, about mid July to mid December 2025, along with 226 snake rescue operations, The Himalayan Times reported. That count covers a different agency and a different period, so it cannot be set beside NDRRMA's 110.

Snakebite is also spreading beyond its traditional Tarai hotspots. The Himalayan Times reported that cases are reaching hill and mountain districts including Solukhumbu, home to Mount Everest, where Sotang Rural Municipality was seeking its own treatment centre because bites had become frequent, Rural Municipality Chair Khilaraj Basnet told the paper.

Nepal has committed to the World Health Organization's target of halving snakebite deaths and disabilities by 2030, The Himalayan Times reported. No report reviewed for this story tracks Nepal's progress toward it.

What we still do not know

• Which districts or provinces account for most of the 110 deaths. NDRRMA could answer this.
• How NDRRMA's count compares with Nepal Police's records for the same months. Both agencies could answer this.
• Whether hospitals in hill and mountain districts now reporting bites have enough antivenom and ventilators. The Ministry of Health and Population's Department of Health Services could answer this.
• The age, sex and occupation of the 110 dead, information no reviewed report provides. NDRRMA or district disaster management committees could release it.