Tox in the news: 72 die in Mozambique from poisoned beer

Mozambique In a very strange story that’s been developing all week, the Washington Post reported that at least 72 people died in Mozambique after consuming poisoned beer offered at a funeral gathering. Details are scarce and the poison (or poisons) has not yet been identified, but a limited clinical scenario can be gleaned from reading news coverage. Apparently, the funeral was an all-day affair. The beer was brewed in and served from a 210 liter container. People who drank the beer only in the morning were not affected. However, those who had the beer in the afternoon were sick by the next morning, with diarrhea and muscle pain. Among the 72 fatalities was Olivia Olocane, the woman who provided the beer for the funeral. Originally,  residents and some authorities thought that the poison used was “crocodile bile” (“nduru”), a substance known in local lore to be extremely toxic, useful for mass poisonings and use as an arrow poison. The possible toxicity of “nduru” has been investigated in the medical literature in a 1984 article by Professor N.Z. Nyazema in the Central Africa Journal of Medicine. In that paper Dr. Nyazema points out: It is widely believed that the bile from the gall bladder of a crocodile is very poisonous. The bile nduru is used as poison which is added to beer or stiff porridge, sadza, of an unsuspecting victim. It is not easy to buy this poison neither is it easy for anyone to kill a crocodile solely for the ...
Source: The Poison Review - Category: Toxicology Authors: Tags: Medical crocodile bile mozambique nyazema poisoned beer tox in the news Source Type: news