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By Doris Obinna
No fewer than 48 people have died after consuming suspected locally prepared alcoholic and herbal concoctions in Ondo State, with laboratory tests confirming high concentrations of methanol in samples collected from the affected areas.
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) said a total of 182 cases had been recorded as of September 17, with five people reportedly rendered completely blind and two others partially blind.
In an update signed by its Director General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, on Friday, the agency stated that the affected communities include Odigbo Town, Araromi-Obu, New Town, Odole, Okele, Orita Odigbo and Oniparaga in Odigbo Local Government Area, while cases have also been reported in Irele Local Government Area.
According to the agency, 90 affected persons had been admitted and discharged, six remained hospitalised, while 31 were treated as outpatients. The victims reportedly developed symptoms including headache, generalised weakness and body pain, visual disturbances, difficulty breathing and altered consciousness, with some cases deteriorating rapidly.
NAFDAC said 15 persons had so far been arrested in connection with the suspected production, sale and distribution of the implicated alcoholic and herbal beverages.
The agency said it subjected 15 unlabeled samples of the suspected concoctions to toxicological, microbiological and chemical analyses.
It said acute oral toxicity tests using laboratory mice resulted in critical illness in the test animals, while about 50 per cent mortality was recorded in tests involving six of the 15 samples.
Chemical screening also detected Cannabis indica in 11 samples, while gas chromatography confirmed the presence of high concentrations of methanol. NAFDAC said methanol is highly toxic and can cause severe poisoning, including blindness, organ failure and death. The agency, however, stressed that the findings were preliminary and required further confirmatory analyses.
It said additional tests were ongoing to determine the exact concentration of methanol and identify other possible toxic agents.
NAFDAC said the combination of the animal-test mortality and confirmed methanol contamination strongly suggested that the samples posed a serious public health risk, requiring immediate regulatory intervention.
While commiserating with families who lost their loved ones in the incident, the agency said surveillance, case management, investigation and risk-control measures were ongoing, adding that the reported figures remained subject to verification as investigations continued.
