Eight children and an adult died after eating contaminated sea turtle meat, while another 78 people were hospitalized, authorities told the Associated Press on March 9. Pemba Island in the Zanzibar archipelago was the location of the incident.
The adult who died was also the mother of one of the children who tragically passed away. Dr. Haji Bakari, the Mkoani District medical officer, told AP that the contaminated sea turtle meat had been consumed by all those affected on March 5.
In Zanzibar, sea turtle meat is considered a delicacy, but it can be deadly due to a food poisoning called 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 in 2021, seven people, including a 3-year-old, died from chelonitoxism.
At this time, Zanzibar authorities are advising people to refrain from eating sea turtles.
