JS Humidifiers completes toxic contract in Liverpool
Venomous snakes in the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine are one of the latest beneficiaries of the expertise of JS Humidifiers, which has supplied and installed five Neptronic SKR steam humidifiers in the Alistair Reid Venom Research Unit. Each humidifier can provide up to 5.5 kg/h of steam to maintain the required humidity for the health and comfort of the snakes.
Dr Robert Harrison, head of the unit, says, ‘We have one humidifier in each of our five snake rooms, as the humidity needs to be maintained at 50%RH ±5%. The main species we are working with are saw-scaled vipers, puff adders and spitting cobras, as these snakes kill several thousand people each year in Africa.
‘The anti-venoms we supply help save many lives, and the humidifiers perform a small but vital function in this important operation. We used to use atomising humidifiers, but they introduced dust into the atmosphere.’
The unit’s objective is to improve the treatment of snakebite around the world. Antivenom is expensive to make and, because snakebite is mainly a problem of poor rural communities in Asia and Africa, typically has very low profit margins. This led to commercial production of antivenoms for Africa effectively ceasing in the late 1990s and a consequent dramatic rise in snakebite mortality.
The Alistair Reid Venom Research Unit has been working with antivenom manufacturers around the world to develop drugs which the unit then shipped to Nigeria.
JS Humidifiers also has a planned maintenance agreement to service these humidifiers.
