ADDITIONS TO THE SNAKE FAUNA OF SOUTHERN LAOS, WITH THE SECOND LAOTIAN SPECIMEN OF Naja siamensis (LAURENTI, 1768) AND THE FIRST COUNTRY RECORD OF Oligodon taeniatus (GÜNTHER, 1861) (SQUAMATA, SERPENTES)

The current study examined the venoms of the following eight species of snakes: Naja haje, Naja kaouthia, Naja melanoleuca, Naja mossambica, Naja nigricollis, Naja siamensis, Naja sputatrix and Pseudechis australis. The first seven species are cobras, from the genus Naja, and are found throughout Africa and Asia, while the king brown/mulga snake (P. australis) is native to Australia. Cobras (Naja spp.) are a medically important species of snake as they are one of the major contributors to the incidence of snakebite in Africa and Asia. In the current study, a pharmacological profile of the neurotoxic and coagulant activity of each of the seven snakes was established. The data indicated that the rank order neurotoxic potency (based on t90 values), from most to least potent, was: N. kaouthia > N. sputatrix > N. melanoleuca > N. haje > N. mossambica > N. siamensis > N. nigricollis. Further studies also confirmed the presence of anticoagulant proteins in all seven Naja spp. venoms tested. Following from these preliminary findings, experiments examining the in vitro effectiveness of antivenoms were completed using Egyptian cobra (Naja haje) venom, as this snake has been documented to come in contact regularly with humans in northern Africa (i.e. it is the snake of choice for charmers and street performers). Antivenom cross-reactivity (also known as paraspecificity or cross-neutralisation) is when an antivenom raised against a distinct snake venom is effective in neutralising the venom from an unrelated species. In these experiments, native commercial antivenom (i.e. CSL Ltd) raised against the tiger snake (Notechis scutatus) effectively neutralised the neurotoxic activity of Egyptian cobra venom. Likewise, antivenom raised against the Egyptian cobra was able to neutralise the neurotoxic effect of tiger snake venom. This may be due to immunological and biochemical similarities within the elapid family of snakes. Subsequently, an α-neurotoxin (α-elapitoxin-Nh1) was isolated from the Egyptian cobra venom and was pharmacologically characterised. α-Elapitoxin-Nh1 abolished nerve-mediated twitches with a t90 value of one third the time of the whole venom (i.e. ~12 min versus ~38 min). Moreover, α-elapitoxin-Nh1 inhibited cumulative concentration-response curves to carbachol in the unstimulated chick biventer cervicis nerve-muscle preparation with a calculated pA2 value of 8.2, i.e. approximately 80 times more potent that d-tubocurarine. The molecular weight of α-elapitoxin-Nh1 was 6812 Da, and partial amino acid sequencing showed a high sequence homology with other elapid toxins isolated from Naja spp. venoms, as well as toxins from Australian elapids such as α-scutoxin-1 (O. s. scutellatus) and oxylepitoxin-1 (O. microlepidotus). The clinical outcomes due to the presence of anticoagulant proteins in snake venoms can be significant after snakebite, yet the mechanism behind these effects is still not fully understood. To gain further insight into these toxins, an anticoagulant protein (Ac-Pa1) was isolated from the venom of the king brown (mulga) snake (Pseudechis australis). Ac-Pa1 had a molecular mass of 13,128 Da with PLA₂ activity of 262 ± 6 U/ml. Ac-Pa1 inhibited the effect of innovin, (lyophilised recombinant human tissue factor) on normal plasma and also prolonged aPTT. CSL black snake antivenom inhibited the anticoagulant effect of Ac-Pa1. The full amino acid sequence of Ac-Pa1 showed it to be highly homologous with previously isolated enzymes from the king brown snake, as well as toxins isolated from Notechis spp. and Naja spp. venoms, albeit with significant amino acid substitutions at key points central to the structure function relationship of this particular class of toxin. It is evident that amino acid substitutions in key locations within a protein sequence of a snake toxin have a marked impact on the biochemical and pharmacological activity of that toxin, and possibly the whole venom. This research is the first to pharmacologically compare seven (N. haje, N. kaouthia, N. melanoleuca, N. mossambica, N. nigricollis, N. siamensis and N. sputatrix) different cobra venoms from both spitting and non-spitting species, is important in the contribution of snakebite envenoming and treatment with appropriate antivenom, and further serves as a pathway for new drug discoveries and targets using snake venoms and toxins.

The Khorat snail-eating turtle (Malayemys khoratensis) is a recently described (2016), poorly studied freshwater turtle known from the Khorat Plateau in Thailand and a small area near Vientiane, Lao People's Democratic Republic. We investigated the occurrence and natural history of M. khoratensis during field surveys of Xe Champhone Ramsar Site (XCRS) and Nong Louang Wetland Complex (NLWC) in Savannakhet Province, and also examined museum specimens and published and unpublished photographs of Malayemys spp. from Lao. Our field surveys confirmed the occurrence of M. khoratensis in the XCRS and NLWC, where populations remain subject to harvest at levels unlikely to be sustainable. We examined 7 museum specimens from Vientiane, Savannakhet, Khammouan, and Champasak provinces. Museum specimens from Vientiane, Savannakhet, and Khammouan provinces were referable to M. khoratensis. Published photographs confirm the occurrence of M. khoratensis in Vientiane Province, and Malayemys subtrijuga in Champasak Province. Collectively, our records extend the geographic distribution of K. khoratensis by > 300 km from previously reported localities. We posit the existence of a biogeographic barrier in southern Lao and adjacent Thailand that separates the allopatrically occurring M. khoratensis and M. subtrijuga.

Immunological cross-reactivity of phospholipase A2 from snake venoms.

In this study, we found that Haplorchis taichui, a heterophyid intestinal fluke, is highly prevalent, with heavy worm loads, among riparian people in Saravane and Champasak province, Lao PDR. Fecal specimens were collected from 1,460 people (717 men and 743 women) in 12 riparian (Mekong river) districts and were examined by the Kato-Katz fecal smear technique. The overall helminth egg positive rate was 78.8% and 66.4% in Saravane and Champasak province, respectively. The positive rate for small trematode eggs (STE), which included H. taichui and other heterophyids, Opisthorchis viverrini, and lecithodendriids, was 69.9% and 46.3% in Saravane and Champasak province, respectively. To obtain adult flukes, 30 STE-positive people were treated with 40 mg/kg praziquantel and then purged. Whole diarrheic stools were collected 4-5 times for each person and searched for fluke specimens using a stereomicroscope. Mixed infections with various species of trematodes (H. taichui, Haplorchis pumilio, O. viverrini, Prosthodendrium molenkampi, Centrocestus formosanus, and Echinochasmus japonicus) and a species of cestode (Taenia saginata) were found. However, the worm load was exceptionally high for H. taichui compared with other trematode species, with an average of 21,565 and 12,079 specimens per infected person in Saravane and Champasak province, respectively, followed by H. pumilio (41.9 and 22.5, respectively) and O. viverrini (9.4 and 1.5, respectively). These results show that diverse species of intestinal and liver flukes are prevalent among riparian people in Saravane and Champasak province, Lao PDR, with H. taichui being the exceptionally dominant species.

During an extensive survey of herpetofauna of the Nicobar Islands, a total of 15 islands were sampled for snakes. A total of 14 species of snakes belonging to 11 genera and five families were recorded. The colubrid Oligodon woodmasoni was recorded for the first time since its description. We also confirm the occurrence of the pitvipers Trimeresurus albolabris and Trimeresurus andersoni . More than 50 new geographical localities have been identified for the species recorded. For the first time ecological and distributional data are provided for the endemic species Trimeresurus labialis , Trimeresurus cantori , Oligodon woodmasoni , Dendrelaphis humayuni , Lycodon tiwarii , and Boiga wallachi . A compilation of the past-confirmed records of snake species and the results of the current study indicate the Nicobar Islands snake fauna is composed of 19 species of non-marine and three species of marine snakes. The highest number of species was observed in forest and the encounter rate was greater in streams, ponds and caves. Grasslands, though extensive in the Central Nicobars, supported very few species. Trimeresurus cantori was identified as the most commonly encountered species in the Central Nicobars. The encounter rate for T. cantori was more than twice the next common species, Trimeresurus labialis .

The taxonomic revisions proposed in this paper are based on studies of morphology, including body measurements, coloration, lepidosis, dentition, distribution, natural history, and synonymy, of all Oligodon taxa from Sumatra and adjacent islands. Major results are: 1. Oligodon annulifer bipartita Despax, 1912 is a subjective junior synonym of Oligodon pulcherrimus Werner, 1909. 2. Oligodon durheimi Baumann, 1913 is a subjective junior synonym of Oligodon pulcherrimus Werner, 1909. 3. Oligodon annulifer annulata (Van Lidth de Jeude, 1922) is a subjective junior synonym of Oligodon signatus (Gunther, 1864). 4. Oligodon annulifer confluens Werner, 1924 is a subjective junior synonym of Oligodon petronellae Roux in De Rooij, 1917. 5. Neotypes are designated for Oligodon octolineatus (Schneider, 1801) and O. pulcherrimus Werner, 1909, and the holotype of O. petronellae Roux in De Rooij, 1917 is redescribed. 6. Oligodon praefrontalis Werner, 1913, known from Pulo Weh, is regarded as a taxon incertae sedis. 7. O. subcarinatus and O. annulifer , known only from Borneo, were also studied: Oligodon subcarinatus (Gunther, 1872) is a subjective junior synonym of Oligodon signatus (Gunther, 1864), while Oligodon annulifer (Boulenger, 1893) is a valid monotypic species, endemic to Borneo, and is closely related to Oligodon pulcherrimus Werner, 1909. 8. These results, in addition to Oligodon rhombifer having been synonymized with Oligodon ancorus in an earlier paper by Tillack (2008), reduce the number of taxa of Oligodon native to the island of Sumatra from 10 to 6, viz. O. pulcherrimus , O. petronellae , O. signatus , O. octolineatus , O. p. purpurascens , and O. trilineatus ; the occurrence there of O. bitorquatus seems questionable. 9. Two tables and an identification key allow the determination of all Oligodon taxa that occur on Sumatra and adjacent islands.

ABSTRACTSnakebite is a neglected condition and a common public health problem in Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), with a high incidence of up to 1,105 cases per 100,000 persons per year. Snakebite patients with systemic envenoming do not receive effective treatment at local health facilities. Healthcare providers have only limited knowledge in assessing and providing the correct treatment for venomous snakebites. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 119 healthcare providers in Savannakhet Province, Lao PDR, with respect to their socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge of snake identification, and management of snakebite. Data was analyzed using SPSS. Logistic regression was performed to estimate the odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of adequate knowledge for treating snakebites among the healthcare providers. Among 119 participants, 27.7% and 45.4% had an adequate knowledge of snake identification and management of snakebites, respectively. Approximately 59% could correctly identify symptoms of envenomation, and 19.3% expressed confidence in treating snakebites. Study participants who had received training achieved significantly better snake identification results compared to those without training, with an OR of 2.54 (95% CI: 1.02–6.28). In particular, physicians achieved significantly better results compared to nurses in knowing how to manage snakebites, with an OR of 2.31 (95% CI: 1.04–5.12). Given the level of inadequate knowledge of snakebite management among healthcare providers in the province, more training in snakebite management is needed. University and Health Science Colleges should include snakebite management into the curriculum, to ensure that medical graduates have the appropriate knowledge and skills to treat snakebites.

Fish sanctuaries are types of aquatic protected areas common throughout the landlocked country of Lao PDR. The key to their successful implementation in Laos appears to be local support. Therefore, they fit well within the context of community‐based fisheries/co‐management programmes. Fish sanctuaries are almost always established in deep‐water pools, which serve as important dry season refuges for fish. The best‐known fish sanctuaries in Laos are known as Fish Conservation Zones (FCZs), and are found in the mainstream Mekong River in Khong district, Champasak province, southern Laos. In Khong, there is increasing evidence that FCZs established by villagers, but with government support, are important places of concentration for various fish species. FCZs can benefit fish stocks, especially relatively sedentary species, but also highly migratory ones. FCZs are not panaceas for solving all the fisheries problems in Laos or the Mekong River Basin, but they represent important management tools that should not be overlooked.

Adult specimens of Echinostoma ilocanum (Garrison, 1908) Odhner, 1911 (Trematoda: Echinostomatidae) were recovered from 2 riparian people who resided along the Mekong River in Savannakhet Province, Lao PDR. In fecal examinations done by the Kato-Katz technique, they revealed echinostome eggs together with eggs of Opisthorchis viverrini (and minute intestinal fluke eggs) and hookworms. To recover the adult flukes, they were treated with praziquantel 30–40 mg/kg in a single dose and purged with magnesium salts. A total of 658 adult fluke specimens were recovered from the 2 people; 456 from case 1 and 202 from case 2. Specimens from case 1 consisted of 335 echinostomes (301 E. ilocanum and 34 species undetermined), 120 O. viverrini, and 1 Haplorchis taichui, and those from case 2 consisted of 36 E. ilocanum, 134 O. viverrini, and 32 H. taichui. Thus, the number of E. ilocanum specimens was 337 in total (average per person, 168.5). From this study, it is suggested that foodborne intestinal flukes and liver flukes are highly prevalent along the Mekong River in Savannakhet Province. The present report describes for the first time human infections with E. ilocanum in Lao PDR.

Capture fisheries are among the many different common property resources in the Mekong River Basin described as being historically ‘open access’. It is widely accepted that this continues to be the case, and that a ‘tragedy of the commons’ is therefore inevitable. The myth that all fisheries resources in southern Laos were historically ‘open access’ is challenged in this chapter. Using the examples of the fence-filter trap and wing-trap fishery system in the Khone Falls area of Khong District, Champasak Province, the operation of fence-filter and wing traps along perennial and seasonal streams in southern Laos, and the pit-trap fishery system in Pathoumphone District, Champasak Province, it is demonstrated that pre-existing tenure systems for fisheries management are far from being ‘open access’. Rather, private resource ownership is socially and culturally sanctioned in these ecologically and socially very different fisheries, as part of a common property management system based on first claims to fishing sites and labor inputs. ‘Open access’ rarely exists in southern Laos, something that may not become evident without sustained field observations. However, discursively characterizing fisheries as ‘open access’ can be used to justify interventions by government and outside agencies.

This is a first report on the reptiles of Eaglenest wildlife sanctuary, Arunachal Pradesh, India. The paper lists details of 23 snake species representing 16 genera from four families, and ten lizard species representing eight genera from three families, documented in Eaglenest during three surveys in 2004 – 2005. Notable records include the rediscovery of Dinodon gammiei , Mictopholis austeniana , as well as records of Japalura andersoniana , Oligodon cinereus , and three species of Trachischium .

Analysis of the effectiveness of control measures against Schistosoma mekongi using an intra- and inter-village model in Champasak Province, Lao PDR

Background: In Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) helminth infections are highly prevalent. All groups of helminths, including nematodes, trematode and cestodes can be found throughout the country. Besides high rates and intensity of infections, most individuals are infected with several different species of intestinal parasitic infections. As in many other countries, a main underlying factor for high worm infestations is the scarce economic resources which lead to a lack of appropriate sanitary facilities, and hygiene related education and adequate behaviour. Therefore, the parasite infection is common among the rural population. However in Laos, there is an additional, particular risk factor responsible for the populations, high worm-load; namely the consumption of raw or insufficiently cooked foodstuff such as raw meat, fish and vegetables. This habit is deeply culturally rooted, and widespread in the Lao population. In this PhD thesis, we tested and determined the appropriate control approaches for Opisthorchis viverrini (O. viverrini) and other important helminth infections such as Strongyloides stercoralis (S. stercoralis) and Schistosoma mekongi (S. mekongi). The tested approaches compose of latrine promotion programme, eco-health intervention study and novel urine test for S. mekongi diagnosis in Khong District, Champasack Province, Lao PDR. Goal and specific objectives: The present PhD study aimed to develop the appropriate control approaches for O. viverrini infection and co-infections in Lao PDR. Four specific objectives were pursued: i). To assess S. stercoralis infection and the risk of infection among the populations on three islands in Khong district, Champasack province, Southern Laos; ii). To define O. viverrini, S. mekongi and STH infections in humans in the ecological environment of Khong district, Champasack province where their potential animal reservoir, and intermediate hosts are living in close connectivity; iii).To compare the diagnostic tools for detection of S. mekongi infection in Lao People’s Democratic Republic and neighbouring country Cambodia; and iv). To assess the impact of improved sanitation and its use on the transmission of intestinal helminth infections in highly endemic areas, three islands in Khong district, Champasack province, Southern Laos. Methodology: Both cross-sectional and cohort studies were used in this PhD thesis’s research. All data of this PhD thesis were obtained from community-based studies. First study of this PhD research was latrine intervention which was called as latrine study, conducted in March 2011 to January 2013 on three islands, i.e. Donlong, Donthan and Donlieng island located in the Mekong River in Khong district, Champasack province, southern Laos. Given an experimental pre-test and post-test with one control group was used to assess the effects of latrine in the study villages on preventing of helminth infections particularly O. viverrini and S. mekongi. Household-based promoting latrine construction was conducted. Two stool…

This chapter characterizes and evaluates the internationalization process on going for twin cities located across the Thai-Lao border and on the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) corridors. Two corridors implemented within the Asian Development Bank (ADB) GMS framework at the beginning of the 1990s have a great importance for Thailand and Lao PDR, i.e. the North South Economic Corridor (NSEC) linking Bangkok to Kunming via Lao PDR or via Myanmar's Shan State, and the East West Economic Corridor (EWEC) linking Moulmein port in Myanmar to Danang port in Vietnam via Thailand and Savannakhet Province in Lao PDR (cf. Taillard, Map 2.2 in this volume). The “twin cities” can be defined according to multiple criteria. The first characteristic used for this article is the fact that the selected cities are border towns, i.e. located on an international border (the Mekong River between Thailand and Lao PDR) and with some functions directly related to the presence of this border. Furthermore, the other criterion used is a geographic one, implying the existence of two urban centres facing each other on each side of this international border. If they can be linked by an institutional agreement (“twin cities” or “sister cities” agreement), this institutional aspect is an optional requirement, compared to the interactions (formal and informal) existing between the two cities. Finally, the expression “twin cities” should be nuanced as it implies a resemblance or symmetry between the two urban centres, which is limited in reality, in terms of population, urban landscape or economic activities. This chapter will try to discuss this theoretical frame by studying an example of these so-called “twin cities”, Mukdahan and Savannakhet, focusing on their characteristics, functions and interactions. Since the end of the 1980s, development of border regions has been supported by national governments as well as international institutions such as the ADB to promote decentralization and enhance cross-border trade and economic cooperation with neighbouring countries (Maneepong 2010, p. 1). In the case of Thailand, border towns have been identified as economic gateways since the 7th National Plan, established for the 1992–96 period (NESDB 1999). For Lao PDR, the largest border towns have been developed under the ADB Secondary Towns project at the end of the 1990s.

The Siiphandone wetland in Khong district, Champasak province, Lao PDR, is one of the most important fisheries in the Mekong River basin. The resource, situated along the Laos‐Cambodia border, supports the livelihoods of around 65,000 inhabitants, mainly semi‐subsistence rice farmers or fishers. In January 2000, the provincial authority was given a special dispensation by the Lao government to allow the importation of Cambodian fish through Khong district, for export to Thailand. Previously, in large part due to the government's policy of food self‐sufficiency, the export of Lao fish was illegal. This paper examines how the implementation of this law has influenced existing legal and illegal trade networks from the Siiphandone fishery by comparing the findings of two studies, one conducted before and the other after the change in the law. In doing so, the transition of the fishery from a local, food‐important resource to an increasingly regional, market‐oriented resource is examined. Conclusions are drawn as to the impact this change has had on the livelihoods of fishers and traders involved in the fishery.