Three have died and nine others were in hospitals this morning after eating millet dumplings that may have contained toxic pesticides.
Yesterday evening, a woman surnamed Tseng (曾) in Taitung County’s Jinfeng Township (金峰) was taken to the hospital after developing convulsions, but was unable to be resuscitated.
About 30 friends and family came over that evening to observe her wake, where they ate the same millet dumplings with snails, bamboo shoots and taro that Tseng had made and consumed earlier.
Photo copied by Huang Ming-tang, Taipei Times
A total of 12 attendees began seeking medical attention starting at about 3am for vomiting and convulsions.
Six of them lost consciousness on the way to the hospital.
By 7am, two more had died and nine were still in hospitals receiving treatment.
Since many people were exhibiting the same symptoms, family members suspected it might have been food poisoning and sent the remaining millet dumplings and other food to a hospital for testing.
Tseng came in at about 9pm yesterday exhibiting a strange smell, Taitung Mackay Memorial Hospital emergency room director Liu En-jui (劉恩睿) told reporters.
Liu said he asked the family if it might have been food poisoning, but they said it was not likely and suspected it was an illness related to her advanced age.
Six more people came to the Mackay hospital throughout the night, two of whom exhibited the same smell, causing doctors to suspect food poisoning, Liu said.
It appeared to be a neurotoxin, potentially an organophosphate used in pesticides or another type found naturally in plants, he said, adding that the patients had constricted pupils and were trembling, with body stiffness and secretions from the mouth and nose.
Taitung County police this morning visited the village and questioned the man who collected the snails to ascertain their source.
County health officials have also visited Tseng’s family and the hospitals to gather samples and the remaining dumplings.
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