Seventeen members of a family are admitted to Consolata Mission Hospital, Nkubu, after eating a meal of suspected poisonous herb.
Five adults and 12 children started complaining dizziness and blurred vision about 30 minutes after taking the meal of ugali and the poisonous herb in Kionyo village, Imenti South, Meru County, on Sunday.
Ms Ann Kiende Majau said a child, who was visiting his grandparents, was sent to fetch a traditional vegetable known as ‘kanyuria’ only to pluck leaves of the poisonous herb.
DIZZY
The anomaly was not detected as the leaves were hurriedly prepared for dinner.
A relative said they noticed something was amiss after some members of the family started behaving strangely, including acting as if they were mad.
“After about 30 minutes, some of them started feeling dizzy while others complained of loss of sight. Some acted as if they had run mad, our father is still unable to talk,” she said.
Imenti South Assistant Constituency Manager Stephen Muriuki, said the plant shares a lot of similarities with popular vegetables.
“We have inspected the farm and found the poisonous herb that is similar to the vegetables. I think the child could not distinguish between the two plants,” he said.
ACTING STRANGELY
He said most of those who had been taken ill are responding to treatment. A neighbour told Nation that the family members started acting strangely.
“They started acting as if they were mad. The children were jumping on their beds, we had difficult time controlling them,” he said.
Kiungone Chief David Kimathi urged parents to show their children edible plants and fruits to avoid such occurrences.