Handicrafts and Appropriate Technology

Aaron Kaak

One person is reported dead and four others hospitalized after eating poisonous food in the out skirt of Douala in the littoral region of Cameroon. The five victims all belonging to one family ate poisonous fish caught with Gama line in a popular Cameroon dish called “mungo chobi” on June 8th 2011. This resulted to vomiting and dysentery. Before being hospitalized one of the victims had given off the ghost. 

The Cameroon ministry of livestock, fisheries and animals industries has called for vigilance and has asked on the local residence in the region not to eat fish products caught from doubtful sources. According to a CRTV Douala reporter, poverty and misery has caused most Cameroonians business fellows in the out skirts of the city to resort to silly ways of making income like the marketing of poisonous food item to ignorant citizens. This incident is coming at a time when cholera out break is sweeping across Cameroon. Across all the regions of the country scores of people have been reported dead. The epidemic started three months ago in the far north regions where 120 died and was blamed to inadequate sanitation and hygiene facilities as well as the poor living conditions of the locals. Despite attempts by the Government to contain the crisis, the epidemic is going out of hand crushing many to dead in the country’s remote areas like Fumbot where 8 have perished. . In the north west Region five people have so far died from one family after exposing themselves to the corpse of an affected victim that was imported in to the village from the south west region and over 40 affected by the disease in the Bafut area some 10KM from the Bamenda the capital city of the region. Doubtful water sources and uncontrollable movement of the affected victims is the root cause of the rapid wide spread. 

Plan Cameroon international has singled out itself in the fight against the disease by donating chlorine water and other technical equipment to contain the situation. With the fast approaching rainy season, the ministry of public health has gone on a swift campaign to keep the disease at bay. The washing of hands with soap has being prescribed. The marketing of food items like yogurt and milk by products had being banned in schools across some regions Serious financial provisions have also been made in all regional state hospitals to check the out break.