Cincinnati Zoo employee bitten by most venomous rattlesnake in North America

A Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden employee was hospitalized Thursday after she was bitten by a highly venomous rattlesnake.

The eastern diamondback rattlesnake snapped at the employee around 4 p.m. in a “behind the scenes area” not open to guests, the zoo’s communications director Michelle Curley told the Cincinnati Enquirer.

The unnamed staffer — who works in the reptile house — was taken to the hospital in stable condition.

She had only received a partial bite and did not require antivenom, Curley said, adding her prognosis is good.

“No guests were ever at risk,” said Curley.

The exact circumstances surrounding the attack were not clear.

When threatened, the eastern diamondback rattlesnake sounds its iconic rattle as a final warning before striking and can strike as far as two-thirds of its body length, according to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute

They are the largest rattlesnake in the world — with some adults reaching 8 feet in length — and the most venomous snake in North America.

The toxin in their venom, called hemotoxin, kills red blood cells and causes tissue damage, which can be fatal to humans.

The attack comes just one month after an Amazon driver was attacked by an eastern diamondback while delivering a package in Florida.

The courier failed to see the massive rattlesnake coiled near the front door until it pounced.

She was rushed to the hospital in “very serious condition,” but survived the harrowing incident.