Editing Pythonidae (section)

==Relationship with humans==
=== Poaching pythons ===
[[Poaching]] of pythons is a lucrative business with the global python skin trade being an estimated US$1 billion as of 2012.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-20509720|title=Concerns raised over python trade|last=McGrath|first=Matt | name-list-style = vanc |date=2012-11-28|access-date=2019-03-14|language=en-GB}}</ref> Pythons are poached for their meat, mostly consumed locally as [[bushmeat]] and their skin, which is sent to Europe and North America for manufacture of accessories like bags, belts and shoes.<ref name = "Jensen_2017">{{cite web|first=Timm Juul|last=Jensen|name-list-style=vanc|url=https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/2017/09/05/large-snakes-are-on-the-menu-at-cameroons-nkoldongo-bushmeat-market/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180108033842/https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/2017/09/05/large-snakes-are-on-the-menu-at-cameroons-nkoldongo-bushmeat-market/|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 8, 2018|title=Large snakes are on the menu at Cameroon's Nkoldongo bushmeat market|work=National Geographic Society Newsroom|date=5 September 2017|access-date=2019-03-14}}</ref> The demand for poaching is increased because python farming is very expensive.<ref>{{cite news | first = Victoria | last = Turk | name-list-style = vanc |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/snake-farms-could-tackle-the-billion-dollar-black-market-for-python-skin/|title=Snake Farms Could Tackle the Billion Dollar Black Market for Python Skin|date=2014-04-02|work=Motherboard|access-date=2019-03-14|language=en-us}}</ref>

In [[Cameroon]] bushmeat markets, the [[Central African rock python]] is commonly sold for meat and is very expensive at US$175.<ref name = "Jensen_2017" /> The poaching of the pythons is illegal in [[Cameroon]] under their wildlife law, but there is little to no enforcement. In [[Kenya]], there has been an increase in snake farms to address the demand for [[snakeskin]] internationally, but there are health concerns for the workers, and danger due to poachers coming to the farms to hunt the snakes.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-38499611|title=The rising popularity of snake farms|last=Njeru|first=Gitonga| name-list-style = vanc |date=2017-01-19|access-date=2019-03-14|language=en-GB}}</ref>

=== Pythons and human health ===
While pythons are not venomous, they do carry a host of potential health issues for humans. Pythons are disease vectors for multiple illnesses, including [[Salmonellosis|Salmonella]], [[Chlamydia infection|Chlamydia]], [[Leptospirosis]], [[Aeromoniasis]], [[Campylobacteriosis]], and [[Zygomycosis]]. These diseases may be transmitted to humans through excreted waste, open wounds, and contaminated water.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Potential Zoonoses/Hazards Associated with Reptiles|url=https://ras.research.cornell.edu/care/documents/OHS/zoonosis_information_sheet_reptiles.pdf|journal=Cornell Center for Animal Resources and Education}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Ebani VV | title = Domestic reptiles as source of zoonotic bacteria: A mini review | journal = Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine | volume = 10 | issue = 8 | pages = 723–728 | date = August 2017 | pmid = 28942820 | doi = 10.1016/j.apjtm.2017.07.020 | doi-access = free | hdl = 11568/880208 | hdl-access = free }}</ref> A 2013 study found that Reptile-Associated Salmonella (RAS) is most common in young children who had been in contact with invasive pythons, with symptoms including "[[sepsis]], [[meningitis]], and bone and joint infection".<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Meyer Sauteur PM, Relly C, Hug M, Wittenbrink MM, Berger C | title = Risk factors for invasive reptile-associated salmonellosis in children | journal = Vector Borne and Zoonotic Diseases | volume = 13 | issue = 6 | pages = 419–21 | date = June 2013 | pmid = 23473215 | doi = 10.1089/vbz.2012.1133 | s2cid = 1311418 | url = https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/79426/1/Meyer_Vector-Borne_2013.pdf }}</ref>

Pythons are also integrated into some aspects of African health and belief use, often with the added risk of contacting zoonotic diseases. Python bodies and blood are used for African traditional medicines and other belief uses as well, one in-depth study of all animals used by the Yorubas of Nigeria for traditional medicine found that the African Python is used to cure rheumatism, snake poison, appeasing witches, and accident prevention.{{cn|date=May 2025}}

Python habitats, diets, and invasion into new areas also impact human health and prosperity. A University of Florida Institute of Food and Agriculture Sciences study found that the [[Burmese python]], as an invasive species, enters new habitats and eats an increasing number of mammals, leaving limited species for mosquitoes to bite, forcing them to bite disease-carrying [[hispid cotton rat]]s and then infect humans with the [[Everglades virus]], a dangerous infection that is carried by very few animals.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Hoyer IJ, Blosser EM, Acevedo C, Thompson AC, Reeves LE, Burkett-Cadena ND | title = Mammal decline, linked to invasive Burmese python, shifts host use of vector mosquito towards reservoir hosts of a zoonotic disease | journal = Biology Letters | volume = 13 | issue = 10 | pages = 20170353 | date = October 2017 | pmid = 28978755 | pmc = 5665769 | doi = 10.1098/rsbl.2017.0353 }}</ref> While direct human-python interactions can be potentially dangerous, the risk of zoonotic diseases is always a concern, whether considering medical and belief use in Nigeria or when addressing invasive species impacts in Florida. In 2022, a woman who lived near a lake area in south-eastern [[New South Wales]] state, [[Australia]], was found to be infested with the [[Ophidascaris robertsi]] roundworm which is common in [[carpet python]]s - non-venomous snakes found across much of Australia.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-08-29 |title=Live worm found in Australian woman's brain in world first |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-66643241 |access-date=2023-09-26}} </ref>

=== Traditional use ===
==== Skin ====
Python skin has traditionally been used as the attire of choice for medicine men and healers.<ref name="AlexanderMoshoeu2016">{{cite journal|last1=Alexander|first1=Graham J.|last2=Moshoeu|first2=Thibedi J.|last3=Williams|first3=Vivienne L.|title=Reptiles sold as traditional medicine in Xipamanine and Xiquelene Markets (Maputo, Mozambique)|journal=South African Journal of Science|volume=112|issue= 7/8|year=2016|page=9 |issn=0038-2353|doi=10.17159/sajs.2016/20150416|doi-access=free}}</ref> Typically, [[South Africa]]n [[Zulu people|Zulu]] traditional healers will use python skin in ceremonial regalia.<ref name="AlexanderMoshoeu2016" /> Pythons are viewed by the Zulu tradition to be a sign of power. This is likely why the skin is worn by traditional healers. Healers are seen as all-powerful since they have a wealth of knowledge, as well as accessibility to the ancestors.<ref name="AlexanderMoshoeu2016" />

==== Fat ====
Typically, species are attributed to healing various ailments based on their likeliness to a specific bodily attribute. For example, in many cultures, the python is seen as a strong and powerful creature. As a result, pythons are often prescribed as a method of increasing strength.<ref name="AlexanderMoshoeu2016" /> It is very common for the body fat of pythons to be used to treat a large variation of issues such as [[joint pain]], [[Rheumatism|rheumatic pain]], [[toothache]] and [[eye sight]].{{Cn|date=May 2025}} Additionally, python fat has been used to treat those suffering from mental illnesses like [[psychosis]].<ref name="KajawuChingarande2015">{{cite journal|last1=Kajawu|first1=Lazarus|last2=Chingarande|first2=Sunungurai D.|last3=Jack|first3=Helen|last4=Ward|first4=Catherine|last5=Taylor|first5=Tonya|title=What do African traditional medical practitioners do in the treatment of mental disorders in Zimbabwe?|journal=International Journal of Culture and Mental Health|volume=9|issue=1|year=2015|pages=44–55|issn=1754-2863|doi=10.1080/17542863.2015.1106568 |s2cid=57728277| url = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283805674 }}</ref> Their calm nature is thought to be of use to treat combative patients. The fat of the python is rubbed onto the body part that is in pain. To improve mental illnesses, it is often rubbed on the temple.{{Cn|date=May 2025}} The existence of evidence for genuine anti inflammatory and anti-microbial properties of the refined 'snake oil' is ironic with respect to the expression "snake oil salesman".<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19051590/|pmid = 19051590|year = 2008|last1 = Falodun|first1 = A.|last2 = Owolabi|first2 = O. J.|last3 = Osahon|first3 = O.|title = Physicochemical, antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory evaluation of fixed oil from Boa constrictor|journal = Acta Poloniae Pharmaceutica|volume = 65|issue = 4|pages = 477–480}}</ref>

==== Blood ====
Python blood plays another important role in [[traditional medicine]]. Many believe that python blood prevents the accumulation of [[fatty acid]]s, [[triglyceride]]s and [[lipid]]s from reaching critically high levels.{{cn|date=May 2025}} Additionally, their blood has been used as a source of iron for people who are anemic, which helps reduce fatigue.{{cn|date=May 2025}} The sources were not specific on the way this blood is administered; however, due to the use of snake blood in traditional treatments in other parts of the world for similar causes, it is likely that the patient drinks the blood in order to feel the effects.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Fita DS, Costa Neto EM, Schiavetti A | title = 'Offensive' snakes: cultural beliefs and practices related to snakebites in a Brazilian rural settlement | journal = Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine | volume = 6 | pages = 13 | date = March 2010 | pmid = 20346120 | pmc = 2853519 | doi = 10.1186/1746-4269-6-13 | doi-access = free }}</ref>

==== Feces ====
The Sukuma tribe of [[Tanzania]] have been known to use python [[feces]] in order to treat back pain. The feces are frequently mixed with a little water, placed on the back, and left for two to three days.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Vats R, Thomas S | title = A study on use of animals as traditional medicine by Sukuma Tribe of Busega District in North-western Tanzania | journal = Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine | volume = 11 | issue = 1 | pages = 38 | date = May 2015 | pmid = 25947365 | pmc = 4472419 | doi = 10.1186/s13002-015-0001-y | doi-access = free }}</ref>

==== Organs ====
In Nigeria, the [[gallbladder]] and [[liver]] of a python are used to treat poison or bites from other snakes.{{cn|date=May 2025}} The python head has been used to "appease witches". Many traditional African cultures believe that they can be cursed by witches. In order to reverse spells and bad luck, traditional doctors will prescribe python heads.{{Cn|date=May 2025}}