The Health Ministry expressed a “strong suspicion” of food poisoning following the deaths of nine children in an Ivory Coast village near Bouaké in the center of the country, its chief of staff Charles said on Wednesday. Koffi Aka.
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“This is a strong suspicion of collective food poisoning following the consumption of herbicide-contaminated maize porridge” that occurred in the village of Niangban, 27 kilometers from Bouaké, he said. quoted in a press release from the ministry.
“A total of 71 cases, including 9 deaths, were recorded” in “children under 15 years of age after consuming corn porridge.” Four of the children who died were from the family that prepared the contaminated porridge, the document says.
The ministry explains that “during the inspection of the room where the corn used to prepare the porridge is stored, three cans of herbicide and cornmeal spread for drying were discovered.”
He assures that “two patients are hospitalized and cared for at the Bouaké University Hospital” and that “a surveillance team has been set up in the village to quickly detect cases and immediately refer them to the University Hospital”.
After consuming the dish on Friday and Saturday, the first cases of “non-febrile gastroenteritis” and “seizures” were detected on Sunday, the ministry said.
“Samples of patient secretions (vomit, urine, blood, sweat, stool) as well as food consumed were sent to the INHP (National Institute of Public Hygiene) and forwarded to relevant laboratories for analysis,” Mr Koffi Aka explained.
According to him, “no new cases have been recorded in the village for 48 hours.”
He also pointed to “a resurgence of episodes of collective food poisoning (TIAC)” in Ivory Coast “in recent years.”
“Since the beginning of 2023, 5 episodes of TIAC have been detected with 131 cases, including 32 deaths, corresponding to a mortality rate of 24.4%,” he said.
Mr. Koffi Aka explained this situation by various factors, particularly “inadequate food hygiene in households and public catering establishments” and “the abusive and anarchic use of pesticides”.
In February, in the village of Kpo-Kahankro, also near Bouaké, two people were sentenced to five years in prison for being infected with Clostridium, a bacteria that an official report said had caused 16 deaths and 21 according to villagers.