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Cambodian fish poisoning
On 13 July Cambodia’s minister of health acknowledged that pesticide-laced fish were responsible for killing seven people and making 79 sick in June in the northern province of Siem Reap.
‘According to the result of our laboratory tests, there were high levels of pesticides in the fish,’ Minister of Health Hong Sun Huot told the Reuters news agency. The mass poisoning occurred in late June after people ate the normally non-toxic tetradontus fish.
High quantities of pesticides used by rice farmers in the area seeped into rivers and lakes and had been absorbed into the flesh of certain fish, Hong Sun Huot said.
Siem Reap police initially speculated the poisoning could have been the legacy of Khmer Rouge guerrillas, who in the mid 1990s, were believed to have poisoned water sources as government troops advanced into their zone in the north of the province.
Authorities have warned people in the area not to eat the tetradontus fish until further notice, the minister said.
Fish is a staple of the Cambodian diet, providing on average more than 70% of daily protein requirements.
Reuters News Service, 14 July 2000.