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Archive Number 20100113.0148
Published Date 13-JAN-2010
Subject PRO/MBDS> Food poisoning, unidentified herbs - Viet Nam: Dien Bien, RFI
FOOD POISONING, UNIDENTIFIED HERBS - VIET NAM: DIEN BIEN, REQUEST FOR
INFORMATION
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A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>
Date: Sun 10 Jan 2010
Source: VietNamNet Bridge, Viet Nam News Agency report (VNA), Thanh
Nien [edited]
<http://english.vietnamnet.vn/Health/201001/Unidentified-tea-allegedly-kills-three-poison-12-888807/>
Three people have died and other 12 have been critically poisoned
after drinking tea made from unidentified leaves and roots in a
northern village.
Hoang Van Van, head of Tan Phong No. 1 Village, said the incident
happened Sunday night [10 Jan 2010] when 13 local people gathered at
Lo Van Van's house to help him take care of his wife in the northern
province of Dien Bien.
Pheng had previously prepared tea with some roots and leaves taken
from the forest for her daughter to bath in and drink in accordance
with a traditional postnatal treatment for women used in ethnic Thai
communities.
After pouring the tea into a thermos, Pheng felt dizzy and tired, Van said.
Van then asked other people to come to take care of her and offered
them a drink of the tea.
At around 10 p.m. [10 Jan 2010] Van's son-in-law cooked instant
noodles with the tea.
After eating the noodles, at around 2 a.m. both Van and his
son-in-law felt nauseated, had respiratory problems and turned pale.
They were rushed to a local health clinic but died on the way.
At the same time, 13 people who drank the tea at Van's house had the
same symptoms and were also rushed to the clinic. One of them died at
the clinic.
Local agencies suspect that the roots and leaves contained poison,
according to Van.
--
Communicated by:
PRO/MBDS
<promed-mbds@promedmail.org>
[It is very difficult to speculate on the etiology of this event
other than to postulate that some root or leaves were harvested that,
while appearing similar to those customarily used, were in fact
toxic. This moderator was unable to identify the types of herbs used
as "traditional thai postnatal herbs" as described in the above newswire.
More information on this event and findings of investigations would
be greatly appreciated.
For a map of Viet Nam with provinces, see
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:VietnameseProvincesMap.png>. The
interactive HealthMap/ProMED-mail map with direct links to other
outbreaks in Viet Nam and surrounding countries reported on
ProMED-mail and PRO/MBDS can be accessed at
<http://healthmap.org/r/00Z1>. - Mods.YMA/MPP]
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