DODOMA, TANZANIA: A group of children and an adult died after consuming turtle meat on Pemba Island, Zanzibar, as reported by The Guardian yesterday.
According to local authorities, 78 others were taken to hospital for further treatment.
Turtle meat is considered an exotic food in Zanzibar, but if consumed frequently, it can lead to death due to chelonitoxism, a type of food poisoning.
Mkoani district medical officer, Drs Bakari, said that the adult victim who died was the mother of one of the children who also died due to chelonitoxism.
Bakari also informed the Associated Press news agency that laboratory tests confirmed that all victims had eaten turtle meat last Tuesday.
Authorities in Zanzibar, a semi-autonomous region in East Africa within Tanzania, have dispatched disaster management teams to urge the public to refrain from consuming turtle meat.
In November 2021, seven people, including a three-year-old child, died in Pemba after eating turtle meat, while three others were hospitalised.
