Luanda - The Ministry of Health in Angola is recommending the population to avoid eating raw cassava, sweet potatoes, potatoes and peanuts to prevent food poisoning similar to konzo disease.
In a statement, the Ministry of Health explains that “konzo disease” affects the structures responsible for the body's muscular strength (the neurons of the cortico-spinal tract) and has already caused the death of two people in the country.
The disease, which is of permanent and abrupt start, the intoxication occurs due to the ingestion of chemical substances present in pesticides, insecticides or cacogenic compounds (cyanide) found in cassava and yucca leaves, the statement said.
It adds that intoxication is manifested through abdominal pain, vomiting, headache (intense headache), dizziness, altered speech, difficulty and imbalance in movement.
According to the Ministry of Health, these foods should be washed in hot water before cooking or frying and only then consumed.
It recommends that the residual water from the preparation of cassava for cornflower should not be reused for any purpose and that in general, all vegetables eaten raw should first be thoroughly washed with boiled water or treated with five drops of bleach per liter.
The ministerial department also urged parents to take better care of the children, as they are more vulnerable to the harmful effects of food poisoning.
In mid-September, the Ministry of the Environment called on the population not to consume molusco and ray fish, due to possible marine contamination caused by the appearance of noctilucent algae.
TED/AMP
