An Idaho man visiting his parents in Oroville, California, suffered a severe rattlesnake bite that exhausted the local hospital's antivenom supply.
Chris Howarth was bitten twice on his foot on May 26, 2026, while checking a broken water line in his mother's garden.
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His wife, Jenny Howarth, drove him to Oroville Hospital, where he developed a serious blood-clotting disorder called disseminated intravascular coagulation by the third day.
The condition put him at risk of bleeding out, requiring 36 doses of antivenom along with platelets and plasma.
On the sixth day, Oroville Hospital ran out of antivenom and airlifted Howarth to Stanford Hospital.
At Stanford's intensive care unit, he received 18 additional doses of a different antivenom, bringing the total to 54 vials.
Rare but Critical Case
Rais Vohra, medical director for the California Poison Control System's Fresno-Madera division, said needing 54 vials is rare.
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He noted that established protocols allow depleted hospitals to borrow antidotes from other facilities or contact poison control for emergency sourcing.
Howarth, a U. S.
Postal Service letter carrier, spent 12 days in the hospital and remains 80 percent recovered six weeks later, with lingering swelling and fatigue.
His family has launched a GoFundMe campaign to cover the extensive medical expenses.
The bite occurred during a spring surge of 249 reported rattlesnake bites and three deaths across California, following a March heat wave.
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The family warned that recent cool, wet weather can muffle a rattlesnake's warning sound, as the snake's rattle was silent due to moisture or mud.
