Before the introduction of antivenom, envenomation resulted in significant morbidity and mortality. The purified rabbit IgG antivenom was developed in 1981 through a team effort led by Dr. Struan Sutherland, head of immunology at the Australian Commonwealth Serum Laboratories in Melbourne. The antivenom is fast-acting and highly and globally effective. Antivenom therapy has shortened the course of envenomation effects; prior to its availability, the average length of hospital treatment for severe bites was about 14 days. Today, antivenom-treated patients are commonly discharged from hospital within one to three days. No deaths are known since it became available.