Trending 
Eight children and one adult have died from food poisoning in the central region of Ivory Coast, the country’s Ministry of Health reports.
The ministry said in a statement on Monday that the health emergency occurred during the day on Friday in the town of Ande in the Adzope region.
“It concerned a collective foodborne illness affecting adults and children, following the consumption of bouillie (porridge),” the statement read.
It also disclosed that investigations had been launched and that among the 97 “severe” cases of poisoning recorded, there were “nine deaths, including eight children and one adult”.
According to the ministry, while “three patients are in intensive care” and four more were in stable condition at the Adzope Regional Hospital, one child under the age of six was evacuated to a hospital in the capital, Abidjan.
About ten children perished in Bouake, in the central Ivory Coast, two years ago, in 2023, from a likely case of food poisoning.
In February of that year, a bacterial contamination in a nearby village resulted in 16 deaths, according to an official report, and 21 deaths, according to locals. Two individuals were sentenced to five years in prison.
