TWO children have died while three others were hospitalized after they ate grilled fish in a coastal village in Basilan province, an official said Tuesday, July 30, 2024.
Oliver Torres, head of the Lamitan City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO), said the victims are residents of Balas, a coastal village in Lamitan City, Basilan province.
The two children aged four and seven expired around 5 a.m. and 7 a.m. Tuesday, July 30, respectively after vomiting and experiencing loose vowel movement.
Three others, including a 34-year-old housewife and her two other children, are admitted at the Lamitan District Hospital for treatment.
Torres said based on information gathered by his office that the family ate dinner on Monday, July 29, a grilled fish known to local fishermen as butete or puffer fish, which may contain the poisonous chemical tetrodotoxin.
Tetrodotoxin is an extremely potent poison (toxin) found mainly in the liver and sex organs (gonads) of some fish, such as puffer fish, globefish, and toadfish (order Tetraodontiformes) and in some amphibian, octopus, and shellfish species.
The kind of venom can cause rapid paralysis, difficulty breathing, and in some severe cases, death.
The puffer fish is often targeted by fishermen but is not commonly eaten due to the danger posed by its poison. (SunStar Zamboanga)