One Dead, 6 Others Hospitalized After Eating Poisonous Fish

A 64-year old farmer has died, whilst six members of his family at Nkonya in the Volta Region have fallen sick, after eating a meal prepared with puffer fish, which is said to be highly poisonous.

Eric Sidu, started shaking uncontrollably moments after consuming the food and was rushed to the Kpando Margret Marquart Catholic Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Ms. Mavis Sidu, the daughter, recounted the incident to the Biakoye District Chief Executive, Ms. Comfort Attah, on her hospital bed when she visited to find out how they were responding to treatment.

Four people from Alavanyo had died under similar circumstances in 2017, after eating food prepared with puffer fish, known locally as “Gedde”.

Don’t eat ‘poisonous’ Puffer fish – Fisheries Commission

The Fisheries Commission in August 2017 warned Ghanaians against eating any product on the market made with the Puffer fish due to its poisonous nature.

The Head of Fish Health Unit of the Fisheries Commission, Dr. Peter Ziddah in an interview with Citi News urged the public to be extra careful when it comes to the Puffer fish as it is even more poisonous than Cyanide (sodium or potassium cyanide used as a poison or in the extraction of gold and silver).

He said “what happened with regards to the puffer fish in the Volta Region is purely a public health issue. We need to warn people about what to eat and what not to eat.”

“In this case, we are talking about processing, people need to learn how to process their catches before eating. The Puffer fish is more poisonous than cyanide. You need some special skills to be able to process that fish to eat,” Dr Ziddah added.

By: citifmonline.com with additional files from GNA