Toxins found in hawksbill turtle meat exceed international
food safety standards, causing neurotoxicity, kidney disease, and liver cancer,
developmental effects in fetuses and children, and even death.
The exact cause of the rare cases of poisonous turtle meat is
unknown.
Seven people, including a three-year-old child, died after
eating poisonous turtle meat on Tanzania's Pemba Island.
Three others are still undergoing treatment in the hospital.
The meat is a popular delicacy among residents of Tanzania's
islands and coastal areas, but turtle consumption is now prohibited in the
area.
Turtle meat can be toxic in rare cases due to chelonitoxism,
a type of food poisoning.
According to the Turtle Foundation charity, the exact cause
is unknown, but it is thought to be linked to poisonous algae that the turtles
eat.
According to local police commander Juma Said Hamis, at
least five families on Pemba, which is part of the semi-autonomous Zanzibar
islands, ate the turtle meat last Thursday.
A total of 38 people were admitted to the hospital, but the majority
were released, and the three who remained are said to be in good health.
President Hussein Mwinyi of Zanzibar expressed his condolences to the families affected in a message on Twitter.
Children and the elderly are the most vulnerable to the
poisoning, though healthier adults can also be affected, according to the
Turtle Foundation.
According to the AFP news agency, 19 people died in
Madagascar in March after eating turtle meat, including nine children.
Indonesia, Micronesia, and India's Indian Ocean islands have
all reported cases.
The next day, the effects were felt, and the three-year-old
was the first to die. Two more people died that night, and four more died the
next day.
Turtle meat can be toxic in rare cases due to chelonitoxism,
a type of food poisoning.
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