By Chernor Alimamy Kamara
A suspected food poisoning incident in the Marbella community in Freetown over the weekend has left some 80 people seeking urgent treatment at Connaught Hospital, 26 of them children, according to the facility’s Care Manager , Dr. Mack Kapuwa. Two were said to be in a critical condition at the Intensive Care Unit.
Dr. Kapuwa told Politico in an interview early Saturday afternoon just few hours after the incident at a popular local eatery( cookery) managed by a woman in the community that, no deaths had been recorded.
He said they received the large number of people looking ill from Marbella and that the two critical cases were brought in the hospital showing symptoms of seizure, but had started identifying their surroundings.
The Hospital Care Manager stated that they have collected the history of the patients and their relatives have also explained what they know so far, noting that after this stage, they will take their samples to the lab to know the type of poison . He advised people selling food in public places to follow the Infection, Prevention and Control (IPC) method by always washing their hands, taking proper care of the food, water and the environment before preparing food for consumption. He urged government to put systems in place to check public food before people consume them to know if they are fit for purpose.
Mayor of Freetown Municipality, Yvonne Aki-Sawyer told journalists that the Public health team had taken sample of the food to ascertain what really was in it. She commended the hospital management for their timely intervention.
She confirmed that the District Health Management Team (DHMT) and the Red Cross are presently in the community urging people that have eaten the food to come forward for treatment. She also confirmed that there was a baby who breast fed from one of the victims and also got affected.
She advised everyone to be very sensitive and careful about what they eat in public as hygiene is very key in human health . She also encouraged people to stop throwing garbage in the streets and their environment.
Inspector Deen Conteh, Information Officer for Eastern Police Division told Politico that they received a distress call in the morning hours of 18th May this year from the Community stakeholders at Marbella alleging people had eaten food poison from a renowned ‘cookery seller’ in the community called “Orya”.
He said that they are yet to make any arrest for now as the principal suspect (Orya) and her children have all been hospitalized. He added that the police will mount investigations to know the cause of the alleged food poisoning.
He confirmed that this is the first time they have received a major incident of alleged food poisoning from that community.
Copyright © 2024 Politico (20/05/24)
