Tanzania: 3 children die after consuming sea turtle meat, 22 people hospitalised

Three children lost their lives after consuming sea turtle flesh on Pemba Island in Tanzania's Zanzibar. On November 27, police reported that all of the children who died belonged to the same family. According to Juma Sadi, the regional police chief for Pemba North, 22 additional individuals have been brought to hospitals after eating sea turtle flesh on Friday, Xinhua reported.  

The police added that samples of the sea turtle flesh have been delivered to the appropriate authorities for testing to examine the cause of the fatalities. "Two of the people admitted to hospital are children and they are in critical condition," Juma Sadi was quoted by Xinhua as saying. He further highlighted that the sea turtle flesh is suspected of being poisonous.  

19 die after consuming sea turtle meat in Madagascar

Furthermore, in another East African island country, there are accounts of fatalities after consuming sea turtles. Earlier in the month of March of this year, approximately 19 people had died after eating sea turtle meat in Madagascar. 

As per the News2sea website, authorities at the Vatomandry hospital in Antananarivo's east district informed that 10 out of the 34 people who were taken to the hospital with food poisoning after consuming sea turtle flesh died. In a statement released by the governorship, it was said that nine children perished at their house after eating the meat of the same sea turtle, which the other people had consumed.  

Algae known to poison seafood between November and March 

Explaining the cause of the toxicity, the website further reported that, Algae on the seafloor are known to discharge deadly poisons between the months of November to March when the nation's temperatures rise and during these months, sea turtles, as well as over 20 kinds of fishes, feast on toxic algae at the bottom of the seafloor. Further, the poisons in the plants eventually seep into the flesh of the organisms that consume them. It has the potential to be lethal if eaten. 

Despite warnings from officials that these species should not be ingested during this time, many individuals, particularly those living in coastal regions, disregard the cautions due to nutritional concerns, News2sea reported.  

Sea turtles also known as marine turtles are reptiles that belong to the order Testudines. It is worth noting that there are seven types of sea turtle species that exist in the marine bed, which include green sea turtles, loggerhead sea turtles, Kemp's ridley sea turtles, olive ridley sea turtles, hawksbill sea turtles, flatback sea turtles, and leatherback sea turtles. According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information research, all kinds of marine turtles have the potential to be poisonous. 

(Image: Pixabay/Shutterstock)