Three people are dead, and more than 30 others have been hospitalized after they ate sea turtle stew in the Phillippines last week.
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According to the BBC, the people who consumed the sea turtle stew were in the seaside town of Maguindanao del Norte Province. Hours after eating the dish, they started feeling various food poisoning symptoms, including diarrhea and vomiting.
Although sea turtles are protected under the Philippine environmental protection laws from being hunted or consumed, the reptiles are still eaten as a traditional delicacy in some of the country’s communities.
Local official Irene Dillo revealed the Maguindanao del Norte Province residents frequently get their food from the sea. “It was unfortunate because there is so much other seafood in their village,” she explained.
Dillo noted that some of the residents’ dogs, cats, and even chickens that ate the sea turtle stew also died.
BBC further reported that after eating contaminated algae, sea turtles can become toxic when cooked and consumed.
Datu Mohamad Sinsuat Jr., a local councilor, told local officials to enforce the ban on hunting seat turtles. He said banning the sea turtles would ensure that “this food poisoning incident will never happen again.”
Local authorities were now investigating the cause of the deaths.
In 2013, 68 people in the Philippines’ Eastern Samar Province became violently ill after eating sea turtles near the village. Four of those people died.
Eight Children and One Adult Died After Consuming Sea Turtle Meat in Zanzibar Earlier This Year
The sea turtle stew incident in the Phillippines comes less than a year after eight children and one adult died from consuming contaminated sea turtle meat on Pemba Island in Zanzibar.
Nearly 80 other people were hospitalized in that incident. Local officials stated that sea turtle is a delicacy to Zanzibar people. However, the meal has periodically resulted in deaths from chelonitoxism, which is a type of food poisoning.
The adult who died was the mother of a child who succumbed to the illness as well.
Mkoani District medical officer, Dr. Haji Bakari revealed that all tests concluded that the victims had eaten sea turtle meat.
Authorities in Zanzibar also sent a disaster management team to urge residents to avoid consuming sea turtles.
It remains unclear what species of sea turtle was consumed in Zanzibar. Most of the species are on the endangered list. The Kemp’s Ridley is the world’s most critically endangered sea turtle.