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8 children, 1 adult die from illness after eating sea turtle meat on remote African island

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Social Links for Chris Nesi
Published March 10, 2024, 3:54 p.m. ET

Eight children and an adult died on a remote African island and dozens more were hospitalized after eating sea turtle meat, which is considered a delicacy in the region despite well-known food poisoning dangers — including the risk of death.

At least 78 other people were sickened during the incident that took place earlier this week on Pemba Island, a remote tropical enclave in the Zanzibar archipelago off the eastern coast of Africa, NBC reports.

The adult who perished from eating the turtle meat on Friday was the mother of one of the children who had lost their lives, said Dr. Haji Bakari, the medical officer for Mkoani District. He told the Associated Press that lab tests confirmed all of those who took ill had consumed sea turtle meat on Tuesday.

All nine of the people who died, in addition to 78 more who were hospitalized, were confirmed to have recently eaten sea turtle meat, which can cause a deadly form of food poisoning called chelonitoxism.
All nine of the people who died, in addition to 78 more who were hospitalized, were confirmed to have recently eaten sea turtle meat, which can cause a deadly form of food poisoning called chelonitoxism. Xinhua News Agency via Getty Images

The poisonings echo a similar incident on Pemba Island in November 2021 in which seven people, including a 3-year-old, died after eating turtle meat.

Sea turtle meat is widely held as a delicacy in Zanzibar, a semi-autonomous region that, along with Tanganyika, forms the United Republic of Tanzania.

However, the dangers of consuming it are widely known.

Sea turtle meat can be contaminated with chelonitoxism, a type of food poisoning that the National Institutes of Health says causes gastrointestinal symptoms, followed by “neurologic, hepatic and renal toxicity.”

It also specifically warns that breastfeeding mothers with chelonitoxin poisoning can pass the toxin to their infants, and details accounts of incidents in Micronesia and Madagascar where nursing babies died as a result.

Eight out of the nine victims were children, who National Institutes of Health says are particularly susceptible to chelonitoxism, including nursing babies who can be poisoned through their mothers' breast milk.
Eight out of the nine victims were children, who the National Institutes of Health says are particularly susceptible to chelonitoxism, including nursing babies who can be poisoned through their mothers’ breast milk. Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Sea turtle meat is considered a delicacy in Zanzibar, despite known potential dangers in consuming it including a deadly form of food poisoning.
Sea turtle meat is considered a delicacy in Zanzibar, despite known potential dangers in consuming it including a deadly form of food poisoning. W Layer/imageBROKER/Shutterstock

In the wake of the poisonings, authorities in Zanzibar have dispatched a disaster management team imploring people not to eat sea turtle meat, NBC writes.