Eight children and one adult in Zanzibar are dead, while another 78 have been hospitalized, after eating sea turtle meat contaminated by chelonitoxism, a food poisoning found in marine animals, E! News reports.
The incident happened on Pemba Island in the Zanzibar archipelago.
The adult who died was also the mother of the one of the children who tragically passed away. Dr. Haji Bakari, the Mkoani District medical officer, told AP the contaminated sea turtle meat had been consumed on March 5 by all of those affected, according to the report by E! News.
Sea turtle meat is considered a delicacy in Zanzibar, although it can often have devastating consequences due to a type of food poisoning known as chelonitoxism.
“Chelonitoxism is a rare and sometimes fatal type of food poisoning caused by eating marine turtles,” the National Library of Medicine says. “Symptoms can be as mild as nausea and vomiting to more severe forms of neurologic manifestations, coma and ultimately death.”
There is no known antidote for chelonitoxism, and “children are especially susceptible to this type of poisoning,” as noted by the National Capital Poison Center. They added that “pets have also died after eating contaminated sea turtle meat or the vomit of affected humans.”
Zanzibar is, unfortunately, no stranger to deaths from contaminated sea turtle meat, as the AP reported that, in 2021, seven people including a 3-year-old had died from chelonitoxism.
Authorities in Zanzibar are urging people to avoid consuming sea turtles at this time.