Namibia - Suspected food poisoning at Kayova village, Kavango East Region - 16 deaths

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Food poison death toll climbs

2023-05-31 John Muyamba

RUNDU – Swapo Party Women’s Council secretary Fransina Kahungu has called on Namibians to support Kayova’s grief-stricken family, who have since Sunday morning lost about 13 people to date after eating dinner at their homestead.

The food was consumed on Saturday evening, and the first two deaths were recorded in the wee hours of Sunday morning at Nyangana district hospital – and since then, the death toll has been increasing.

According to information at hand, it is alleged that some family members from the affected homestead went to work to cut reeds for someone, and they were paid with the traditional brew mahangu residue, which they then pounded to make flour and cooked a meal that the family consumed.
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https://neweralive.na/posts/food-poison-death-toll-climbs

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KAYOVA VILLAGE FOOD POISONING INCIDENT CLAIMS 16 – PM CONVEYS CONDOLENCE

Posted by The Staff Reporter | Jun 2, 2023 | Community and Culture

The death toll in a food poisoning incident that occurred in the Kayova Village in the Kavango East on Thursday rose to 16 from the 9 reported on Tuesday, according to the Ministry of Health and Social Services, acting regional health director, Woita Kapumburu in a statement.

The total number of people involved was also revised from the initial 18 people to 24, with the youngest being a 1-year-old and the oldest 33 years old.

The household is said to have consumed a poisonous/toxic porridge made with pearl millet mahangu flour and an added dried and pounded fermented sediment from home-made beverage/beer, locally known as ‘mundevere...https://economist.com.na/79648/commu...ys-condolence/

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Govt assists food poison families

2023-06-02 John Muyamba


RUNDU – With 16 people from the Kayova homestead having succumbed to suspected food poisoning they allegedly consumed unknowingly at dinner on Saturday, the government is pulling out all the stops to assist their families.
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“Initially we received 13 patients as a referral from Nyangana, unfortunately they were in a critical condition, and we have lost all of them. The department took some specimen for toxicology testing and these were sent to NIP and some to South Africa and we will soon be getting the results that show exactly what was contained in the food they ate,” said the Rundu intermediate hospital superintendent Dr Jean Kalala Kabangu.

“Their livers were severely damage and the kidneys failed also, they were at an advanced stage that we could not save them,” he said.

“The total number of people involved has been revised from the initial 18 people to 24, with the youngest being one-year-old and the oldest 33 years old. Unfortunately, 16 have perished so far, two of them passed away at Nyangana district hospital,” said the health ministry’s acting regional director for Kavango East, Woyita Kapumburu.

“Currently, there is only one patient admitted at Rundu intermediate hospital, he was transferred from Nyanagana on Wednesday, he is (29) in a serious but stabilised condition, he is complaining of abdominal pain and diarrhoea,” he said.

At Nyangana district hospital, there is a one-year-old girl, two two-year-old boys, an 11-year-old girl, a 13-year-old and a 14-year-old boy along with a 27-year-old woman, said Kaspumburu.

“The two-year-olds were discharged, but they are being kept in the hospital for care. The rest of the cases are stable,” Kapumburu noted.


...https://neweralive.na/posts/govt-ass...on-families

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DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE SUSPENDS SALE OF HOMEBREW AT KAYOVA VILLAGE

Published
2 days ago
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The Kavango East Disaster Management Committee requested the Headman of Kayova Village to stop the sale of homebrew at the village during an urgent meeting where it was briefed on the matter at hand by the Ministry of Health and Social Services as well as the Police.
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"Those that have consumed this contaminated mahangu, please let them feel free to come forth and go to the hospital to get treatment because I was informed the level of this poison is so very dangerous, so therefore, we are just urging the whole village to now stop the home-brewed beer so that you can go for testing," said committee chairperson Damian Maghambayi.

The committee will be visiting the Kamungu family, who lost 16 members aged between three and 33, to start funeral arrangements.

Woita Kapumburu, the Acting Health Director for Kavango East, says six people are in stable condition and receiving counselling at the hospital.
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https://www.nbcnews.na/node/101229