
Stock image of a sea turtle. PHOTO:
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- Eight children and 1 adult have died after eating sea turtle meat, which sickened an additional 78 people
- The deaths occurred on Pemba Island in the Zanzibar Archipelago, where it is considered a delicacy, even though it can cause a rare type of food poisoning called chelonitoxism
- There is no treatment for chelonitoxism, as the toxin which causes it has not been identified yet
Eight children and one adult have died after eating sea turtle meat in Pemba Island in the Zanzibar Archipelago. Authorities said an additional 78 people were sickened and hospitalized from eating the meat, according to the Associated Press.
The outlet said they died from chelonitoxism, a type of food poisoning that only occurs from eating sea turtles. The meat is considered a delicacy.
“Chelonitoxism (sea turtle meat poisoning) is a rare and sometimes fatal type of food poisoning caused by eating marine turtles,” according to the National Library of Medicine.
“Studies show that all parts of the sea turtle are potentially toxic. Symptoms can be as mild as nausea and vomiting to more severe forms of neurologic manifestations, coma and ultimately death.”

Pemba Island is part of Tanzania's Zanzibar Archipelago.