Overview

• The University of Queensland study shows black, western green and Jameson's mambas deliver postsynaptic flaccid paralysis followed by presynaptic spastic effects.
• Patients may appear to recover after antivenom before developing painful spasms because current products target postsynaptic toxins but miss presynaptic ones.
• Previously, spastic paralysis was chiefly attributed to the eastern green mamba, but the new work extends that risk to three additional species.
• Functional differences between Kenyan and South African black mambas indicate that treatment effectiveness may vary by region and require tailored antivenoms.
• The peer-reviewed findings in Toxins highlight a major public-health need, with mamba bites contributing to tens of thousands of deaths annually in sub-Saharan Africa.