Warmer weather could lead to a higher risk of snakebites across the world as snakes move to change habitats, according to a new study.
The research, led by the World Health Organisation (WHO) was published in the PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases journal on Thursday.
It highlighted that more snakes may move closer to densely populated areas, as well as places which have never had to deal with venomous reptile species, in a bid to escape rising temperatures, as well as habitat encroachment by humans.
This could lead to more encounters between these snakes and humans, leading to more snakebites, as well as more snake deaths.
While snakebites statistics can often be unclear and hard to access, the majority of cases happen in the tropics, especially south Asia. According to the authors of the study, there are around four million new cases annually.
