Several years ago, a young Egyptian man abandoned his degree in archaeology to hunt scorpions in the country’s deserts and shores, extracting their venom for medicinal use.
At just 25 years old, Mohamed Hamdy Boshta is now the owner of the Cairo Venom Company - a project housing 80,000 scorpions in various farms across Egypt as well as a range of snakes, also kept for their venom.
For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
Caught using a colored UV light, the scorpions are exposed to a tiny electric current to stimulate the release of the venom, one gram of which can produce between 20,000 and 50,000 doses of antivenom.
A gram of scorpion venom can fetch $10,000 and Boshta exports it to Europe and the US where it is used to make antivenom and a range of other medicines, including for conditions such as hypertension.
Boshta checks on scorpions at his company in Cairo, Egypt December 6, 2020. (Reuters/Mohamed Abd El Ghany)
Read more: Madagascar’s herbal medicine coronavirus ‘cure’ free to schoolchildren, export ready
Also Read
-
Australian stinging trees contain ‘scorpion-like venom,’ find researchers
Australia is notorious for its venomous spiders, snakes and sea creatures, but researchers have now identified “scorpion-like” toxins secreted by a ... Variety -
IN PICTURES: Egyptian beekeeper therapist uses venom to heal his patients
On his rooftop in the outskirts of Cairo, Omar Abulhassan raises thousands of bees -- not for the honey, but their venom. After reading about the ... Variety -
From donkeys to dried scorpions, the tale of Chinese imports from Africa
For many other African counties this has become a profitable trade Variety
