Contaminated maize kills 26 in Makueni District

Twenty-six people have died in the southern Kenyan district of Makueni after eating maize believed to have been contaminated with aflatoxin, a poisonous mould that grows mostly on cereals harvested or stored under damp conditions, a health officer said on Friday. Six other people were in hospital suffering from aflatoxin poisoning, a condition characterised by vomiting, abdominal pain, pulmonary oedema, convulsions, coma, and death from cerebral oedema and swelling of the liver, kidneys, and heart, Benjamin Ndaka, a health education officer in charge of Makueni, told IRIN by telephone. He said the 26 deaths had occurred over a period of a month since the first case had been reported on 10 April. "We took samples of maize and maize meal from the affected villages for analysis, and aflatoxins were detected," said Ndaka. Ndaka said the most affected area was Ulilinza village of Kibwezi Division, but that other cases of aflatoxin poisoning had been reported in Makindu and Mtito Andei divisions as well. He said district health officials were still trying to identify the source of the contaminated maize. The area was currently experiencing grain shortages, he added, resulting in people relying on maize that had been brought in from other areas of the country. Humans are exposed to aflatoxins through the consumption of foods contaminated with fungal growths.