Twenty-eight children died and another 77 were hospitalised after eating cassava fritters on 8 March at San Jose Elementary School in Mabini, Bohol.
Most of the children, aged between 6 and 13 years, responded to atropine, an antidote for anticholinesterase pesticides (carbamates and organophosphates) and many had lowered levels of cholinesterase leading doctors to suspect the cause of ‘food poisoning’ was a carbamate or organophosphate pesticide.
Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit confirmed that test results conducted by the University of the Philippines-Poison Management and Control Center (UP-PMCC) showed that pesticide poisoning was responsible and the National Bureau of Investigation subsequently identified the specific chemical as
coumaphos(1).
Cassava naturally contains low levels of cyanide which are reduced by careful food preparation. Health officials ruled this out as the cause as the children did not respond to the typical cyanide antidotes and the cassava tested had only low levels of this chemical.
Coumaphos is an organophosphate insecticide used in agriculture but also sold for household use. It was found in the frying pan used by the woman who prepared the cassava fritters, and investigators speculated that she may have mistaken it for flour.
(RM)
1. Philippine Daily Inquirer March 18, 2005, pA3.
[This article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 67, March 2005, page 19]