Cobra victim discharged from hospital

CEBU, Philippines - The zoo keeper who almost died after he was bitten by a King Cobra Tuesday last week was discharged from the hospital yesterday.

Dr. Gloria Duterte, Cebu City Medical Center head, said Ronald Aventurado will continue to take antibiotics at home but he is already out of danger.

Duterte said if he will be bitten again by the same snake, the anti-venom in his body will protect him for three years.

Duterte said admitted she is happy that Aventurado is now safe but she is also saddened that the man who saved him, Capt. Jessup Bahinting, died last Saturday in a plane crash in Masbate.

It was Bahinting, owner of Aviatour Air, who volunteered one of his planes to airlift the anti-venom vials from Camiguin as Cebu has no supply of the vaccine.

The anti-venom had to be injected within 24 hours since the Aventurado was bitten in order to save his life.

Meanwhile, Dr. Alice Utlang, Cebu city veterinarian, said she had already recommended to Mayor Michael Rama to donate the King Cobra to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) so it can be used for venom production.

RITM, she said, collects venom, one of the process of making the anti-venom vaccine

Utlang also said RITM can take care of the snake better as they have the facilities and food for it.

Cobras eat other snakes.

When asked if he is amenable to it, Rama said he will consult the matter with Giovanni Romarate, the Cebu City Zoo manager.     - THE FREEMAN