Mexico is one of the most affected countries, with the highest biodiversity of scorpions in the world, some 200,000 envenomations per year and at least 300 deaths.
(1) Scorpion species, genus and family richness in 19 countries and one territory (Southern Africa). In the “x” axis the number of families, number of genera per country is indicated by the intensity of coloration of the circle (lighter represents more genera) and the size of the circle indicates the number of species (the bigger the circle the more species).
(2) Correlation of species richness and the area in km 2 per country or territory (US is only represented by the area of 11 states in which scorpions have been reported).
(3) Heatmap of the number of species per family (in phylogenetic order) and their representation in each country. Warm colors indicate fewer species. Phylogeny was modified from Coddington et al. 2004, SantibáñezSantibá˜Santibáñez-López et al., 2019).
(4) A subdadult female of Typhlochactas sp. (Typhlochactidae), a representative from the endemic family in Mexico (highlighted in red in panel c; photo courtesy of Jorge Mendoza).
i cant remember wher i ever said that. i remember the debate being about the potency and dangerousness of Tityus spp not actual death tolls. mexico wouldnt suprise me at all. it may not have the most dealy scorpions but many species pack a wallop and these days there are many people trekking through the desert covertly for various purposes, and medical facilities in these regions are few and far between and im sure many people are stung and never reported because nobody ever finds them.my guess would be in either rural mexico or africa.
Where In The World Are Scorpions Most Dangerous?
Public health threats vary from country to country, and this is true for vector-borne health threats as well. For example, mosquitoes are one of the leading causes of death in Africa and wasps are major killers in Asian countries. Here in America, ticks are the arthropods to fear, as thirty thousand people per year fall ill as a result of contracting lyme disease. While many people may assume that disease-spreading arachnids, like ticks, are a rarity, scorpions are considered a major public health threat in tropical and subtropical regions all over the world, including the United States. This is not surprising, as scorpions have a wide distribution across the globe.
The rate of medical incidents involving scorpions differs from country to country and depends on numerous factors such as socioeconomic status, residential status, availability of health services, and the geographical distribution of species. Scorpions pose the greatest threat to public health in African, Middle Eastern, and Central American countries. Scorpions are by no means rare in the US, and the arachnids cause the greatest amount of medical incidents and deaths in Mexico, which is alarmingly close to America. Every year, 300,000 scorpion stings are reported in Mexico, and many of these cases turn out to be fatalities. Back in 1995, 7000 scorpion stings were recorded in Brazil, and despite having anti-venom in abundance, 1 percent of these stings resulted in death. Both Morocco and Tunisia report 40,000 scorpion related medical incidents each year. India is currently home to a staggering 86 percent of all scorpion species known to exist. Scorpion stings in children result in death 3-22 percent of the time. When taking the entire world into account, 1.2 million scorpion stings are reported annually, and of these cases, 3,250 deaths result. This means that for every person killed by a snake bite, ten are killed by a scorpion sting.
