South Africa’s antivenom stock has been depleted, now including scorpion and spider antivenom, but hope is in sight with the completion of renovations at the South African Vaccine Producers (SAVP) facility.

The Witness reports that while antivenom production is set to resume, the labour-intensive extraction process means it will take at least nine months before stock is available again.

SAVP is the country’s sole antivenom producer and supplies the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS).

The crisis began last year when the NHLS announced a shortage of snake antivenom due to planned upgrades at the SAVP facility, assuring that stock levels would be sufficient.

During a parliamentary portfolio committee meeting on health, Dr Clothilde Oliphant from the NHLS confirmed the renovations had been completed.

“The renovations [started in April] last year. It had been planned for the autumn-winter period when demand for antivenom is lowest. However, there were parallel equipment breakdowns. The renovations have now been completed,” Oliphant said.

She added that the SAVP would now focus on validation and qualification processes before production begins this month.

While boomslang snake antivenom remains available, stock for all other snake, scorpion, and spider antivenoms is exhausted.

Oliphant explained that the production process is labour-intensive to meet good manufacturing standards.

Johan Marais from the African Snakebite Institute said the NHLS and SAVP expect at least nine months to produce serum, excluding the purification process.

“To make antivenom for scorpions, for instance, you have to start by giving a horse small doses of venom and gradually increase it. It takes nine months — you can’t shorten it. Then, once you have the serum, it needs to be purified. You’d need about 50-plus horses for these operations,” Marais said.

Although there is no spider antivenom, Marais noted that only two species — the brown and black platinum spiders — require concern. While their bites cause immense pain, they are not fatal and can be managed with antivenom.

For scorpions, three to four deaths occur each year due to the Transvaal thick-tailed scorpion and the rough thick-tailed scorpion.

“There is no antivenom for these scorpions. For snakebites, we are using imported Indian antivenom, but we cannot import two variants to treat venom that affects breathing and causes severe pain. It is children who are often killed by them,” he said.

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