21 people from the same family were poisoned on Saturday in Ximan in Sahil region after eating meat from a camel. The poisoning follows after the family slaughtered camel-sick with unknown disease-only to eat its meat before it dies. Some of the family members who were seriously ill are currently receiving medical treatment in Burao General Hospital. Head of the Ministry of Health for Sheikh district, Dr. Ismail Hussein Abdilahi provided medical emergency to the patients and told the Somali BBC services that the family were poisoned after a camel got sick. He narrated that they gave medications to the sick camel so that it’s health improves. He said that after the family saw that the health situation of the camel was deteriorating, they decided to slaughter it and ate the meat.
Dr. Ismail recounted that after having arrived in Ximan area, he saw that all of those who ate the meat were affected by the illness. He said they were 21 people. He further disclosed that the family members who got ill ate the liver of the sick camel. He went on to say that from the outset that the family gave an injection to the camel in the wrong spot which led the toxic to accumulate in the liver. Mr. Nuur Farah Bulaale, who is a member of the family told the Somali BBC that 8 of the 21 people are still in bedridden. Bulaale added that most of them are recuperating except 8 people including his father, mother, and sister who are still ill. He stated that after they eat the meat, they started frequent vomits and passed loose, and watery stools which weakened their physical strength. He confirmed that there were other people who ate the meat and got ill. Finally, Dr. Ismail told the Somali BBC that this is not the first incident that occurred in Ximan. He said that 60 people were poisoned after eating meat in 2008. He pointed out that a woman died of the illness.
