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Topics: Food and Drink, Health, Science, World News
Emily Brown
A 17-year-old boy and a one-year-old baby have tragically died after a meal of fish and rice was donated to them for New Year's Day.
Teenager Manoel Leandro da Silva was rushed to hospital in Parnaiba, in the north-east Brazilian state of Piaui, after he joined other members of his family in eating the meal on January 1.
Manoel was the first to pass away from the sickness, though eight other family members also needed hospital treatment, including three of Manoel's sisters, his three nieces, his stepdad Francisco de Assis Pereira da Costa, and his young nephew, Igno Davi da Silva.
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Manoel died in the ambulance as he was being taken to hospital, and police in Brazil have now confirmed that the one-year-old, Igno, has also succumbed to his sickness.
Igno's mother, Francisca Maria da Silva, is still in hospital.
Hospital director Carlos Teixeira spoke about the condition of the hospitalized family members, The Mirror reports, saying: "The patients’ symptoms were basically the same: below normal heart rate below normal, intense sweating, lowered level of consciousness. We are still carrying out tests to confirm the source and the poisoning material.”
After the family members became sick, the people who donated the food went to the authorities themselves. The couple revealed they had donated more fish to other locals who had not suffered any problems.
Local police chief Abimael Silva said: “They do philanthropic work. They've donated several food hampers here in the neighborhood and they've also donated around 30 kilos of fish, manjuba, which was supplied by the fishermen's association. Every year they do this service, but only the family here has fallen sick after consuming this food.”
Relatives of Manoel who have been able to speak to police said they did eat the fish which had been donated to them, but they didn't eat the rice because they'd already prepared their own the night before.
Police are now looking into the possibility that the food may have contained pesticides. Forensic experts are carrying out tests on blood and urine samples from the poisoning victims, as well as genetic material from Manoel's stomach in the hope to find out further information as to what caused the sickness.
A forensics team is also investigating the family's home, where they took samples of food they had eaten to determine if there were any toxic substances present.
Manoel's body has since been released from the hospital, with family members set to make funeral arrangements for the teenager.