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Envenoming and Natural Toxins in New Zealand

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Clinical Toxinology in Asia Pacific and Africa

Part of the book series: Toxinology ((TOXI,volume 2))

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Abstract

New Zealand is only home to a small number of venomous creatures. This chapter aims to examine New Zealand’s venomous creatures, including their habitats and distribution, the clinical effects that might arise following envenoming, and the appropriate medical treatment required. The hazardous creatures discussed include spiders (katipo and redback spiders, white-tailed spiders), other insects (bees, wasps, and centipedes), and marine animals (stingrays, scorpion fish, sea urchins, bluebottle jellyfish, and sea snakes). These animals are found in a range of different habitats throughout the country and, depending on the animal encountered, can produce a wide array of adverse effects following bites or stings. Overall, envenoming from venomous creatures is not common in New Zealand. If envenoming does occur, it is rarely fatal; however, it does have the potential to cause significant morbidity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Poisons Centre, University of Otago, 913, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Robin Slaughter, Wayne Temple & Leo Schep

Authors
  1. Robin Slaughter
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  2. Wayne Temple
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  3. Leo Schep
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Robin Slaughter .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Venom and Toxin Research Programme Department of Anatomy, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    P. Gopalakrishnakone

  2. Professor of Medicine (Rtd), Sir Salimullah Medical College, Dhaka, Bangladesh

    Abul Faiz

  3. Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka

    Ravindra Fernando

  4. Department of Clinical Medicine Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka

    Christeine Ariaranee Gnanathasan

  5. Infectious and Tropical Diseases Unit Department of Medicine, Bayero University Kano Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, Nigeria

    Abdulrazaq Garba Habib

  6. Department of Medicine, School of Medicine National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan

    Chen-Chang Yang

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Slaughter, R., Temple, W., Schep, L. (2015). Envenoming and Natural Toxins in New Zealand. In: Gopalakrishnakone, P., Faiz, A., Fernando, R., Gnanathasan, C., Habib, A., Yang, CC. (eds) Clinical Toxinology in Asia Pacific and Africa. Toxinology, vol 2. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6386-9_10

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