Food poisoning kills four in Alavanyo

Four people have died in Alavanyo in the Volta Region in what has been described as food poisoning from a fish which looks like a puffer fish.

Three others have also been hospitalised at the Margaret Marquart Catholic Hospital in Kpando after they ate the fish which is known by the local people as “Gedde”.

According to the Hospital Administrator, Emmanuel Hanson Torde, similar cases were reported two weeks ago after residents reportedly ate the same kind of fish.

He told Citi FM in an interview on Thursday that post-mortem conducted on the deceased indicated that they died from fish poisoning but could not ascertain whether it was as a result of eating the fish.

He said the hospital had informed the Food and Drugs Authority about the development.

“In all the two communities where the people died, we have the samples but I cannot state categorically that it was as a result of the consumption of the fish until further investigation has been done. But I can state that we’ve lost four people as a result of eating the fish. Doctors’ diagnosis said it was due to food poisoning.”

“It is not a common fish on the market. What the residents told me was that when the fish is captured in the river and hit with a stick, it expands. It is not a normal fish that is sold on the market,” he added.