Elderly woman in Johor dies after eating puffer fish, husband in ICU

[SBFNews]

Elderly woman in Johor dies after eating puffer fish, husband in ICU​

Puffer fish sold at a wet market. (File photo: iStock)
29 Mar 2023 12:00PM (Updated: 29 Mar 2023 12:00PM)
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www.channelnewsasia.com

JOHOR BAHRU: An 83-year-old woman in Kluang, Johor has died after eating puffer fish while her husband is still being treated in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
According to state news agency Bernama, Johor Health and Unity Committee chairman Ling Tian Soon in a statement on Tuesday (Mar 28) said that the couple had bought the fish from an online seller on Facebook.
He said that it was the couple’s first time consuming puffer fish.
According to Mr Ling, the couple ate the fish at around 3pm on Saturday before the elderly woman started shivering and experiencing shortness of breath.
Her husband displayed the same symptoms an hour later.
"The couple was taken to the Enche' Besar Hajjah Khalsom Hospital, Kluang by their children who live separately before the wife was pronounced dead at 7pm the same day,” Mr Ling was quoted as saying by Bernama.
He added that their case has been classified as “food poisoning caused by puffer fish”.
"In fact, the cause of death is given as 'food poisoning with neurological manifestation resulting in respiratory failure with cardiac dysrhythmia possibly due to ciguatera toxin or tetradotoxin ingestion' from the puffer fish," he reportedly said.
Mr Ling added that no new report has been received regarding the case and that all the fish sold on that date has been taken by the District Health Office (PKD) for analysis.
"A total of 15 kilogrammes of the puffer fish were sold to four customers in Chamek and Paloh, including one in Yong Peng on that day.
"Apart from the couple, the other customers have not eaten their puffer fish yet,” Mr Ling was quoted as saying by Malay Mail.
According to him, further investigation found that the fresh puffer fish was obtained from fishermen in Endau, Mersing before being taken by wholesalers to be processed in Batu Pahat and then distributed to customers based on orders.
"I would like to remind the people of Johor to be careful in choosing food especially if it has risks," he said.
Despite the poisonous nature of puffer fish, it is a delicacy in several countries and regions in Asia, including the Malaysian state of Sarawak.
In 2017, local media reported that the Malaysian Health Ministry was considering a regulation to make the sale of pufferfish illegal unless it has been made safe first by “qualified persons”.
According to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), puffer fish contain the deadly toxin tetrodotoxin and saxitoxin that may cause severe illness or death. The health agency said that the toxin cannot be destroyed by cooking or freezing.

 

[ODACHEK]

Only a top qualified Japanese chef can cook puffer fish...he will know where to cut away the poisonous pouch.

 

[glockman]

m&ds know nothing about preparing fugu. They should just stick with eating those smelly catfish.

 

[Loofydralb]

About time they made selling it illegal without preparation permits so that public is protected and a whole new industry is created.

 

[syed putra]

m&ds know nothing about preparing fugu. They should just stick with eating those smelly catfish.

I believe its s chinese couple. Malays only eat cheap wholesome local fish.

 

[blackmondy]

Safe to say makcik's first time eating puffer-fish is also her last time.

 

[Cottonmouth]

m&ds know nothing about preparing fugu. They should just stick with eating those smelly catfish.

Or curry beef curtains, grab the whole piece and slice it off, pan fry or sashimi it.

 

[laksaboy]

Puffer fish should only be eaten in Japan prepared by licensed nihonjin chefs.

JB is where you eat nasi lemak.

 

[blackmondy]

She would have survived if she had eaten this instead.
该吃的不吃, 不该吃的偏要吃。

 

[Loofydralb]

Safe to say makcik's first time eating puffer-fish is also her last time.

Malays not stupid to eat rubbish like pork frogs insects and pufferfish

 

[blackmondy]

Malays not stupid to eat rubbish like pork frogs insects and pufferfish

Mudds aren't stupid. They're just plain dumb.

 

[glockman]

I believe its s chinese couple. Malays only eat cheap wholesome local fish.

my bad. I should not have assumed they were müds.

 

[glockman]

Puffer fish should only be eaten in Japan prepared by licensed nihonjin chefs.

JB is where you eat nasi lemak.

They have excellent BKT, duck rice and bak chor mee too.

 

[blackmondy]

my bad. I should not have assumed they were müds.

No need for apology. Any opportunity to discredit that low-IQ race shouldn't go to waste.

 

[glockman]

No need for apology. Any opportunity to discredit that low-IQ race shouldn't go to waste.

bro, as a I get older, I am trying so hard to not be racist. But it is so hard to not be. I better go for Confession this Sunday.

 

[Cottonmouth]

bro, as a I get older, I am trying so hard to not be racist. But it is so hard to not be. I better go for Confession this Sunday.

Confession with Pastor Ho?

 

[blackmondy]

bro, as a I get older, I am trying so hard to not be racist. But it is so hard to not be. I better go for Confession this Sunday.

Not our fault. They forced us to be racist towards them.

 

[blackmondy]

Confession with Pastor Ho?

Horsey Face : "Lay your hands on my breasts and pray along with me...."

 

[Cottonmouth]

Horsey Face : "Lay your hands on my breasts and pray along with me...."

I'd like to warm my hands in Pastor Ho's holy hole.

 

[SBFNews]

Elderly woman who died did not know she was eating poisonous fish​

March 29, 2023 @ 9:59pm

KLUANG: Octogenarian Lim Siew Guan, who died after eating puffer fish at Kampung Chamek, Paloh, on Saturday, had no idea that the fish she prepared was poisonous.

According to the victim's daughter, Ng Ai Lee, 51, her father, Eng Kuai Sin @ Ng Chuan Sing, 84, bought the fish from a peddler who sells from a van that comes to his old folks' home.

She said her family was sad and regrets that the seller did not inform her father, a regular customer, that the fish he bought was poisonous.

"This is the first time my father had bought this type of fish. When my brother brought my parents to the hospital, my father told him that he did not know the fish he bought was puffer fish and was poisonous.

"This is the first time my parents ate puffer fish. They would not have taken it for fun because they are careful and health-conscious people.

"I contacted the seller before my mother passed away, and it's true that my father has been buying fish from this seller roughly once a week.

"The seller said that he has been selling puffer fish all this while and his customers have been okay. The seller also said that the poisoning could be due to other food or my parents' health," she said when contacted.

Ng said her mother was buried in a Chinese cemetery near their house today, while her father still lay unconscious in the intensive care unit (ICU) at Enche' Besar Hajjah Khalsom Hospital, here.

"I hope the authorities will take appropriate action so that no one else will become a casualty because the sale of poisonous fish is not regulated.

"An earlier statement that said my father bought the fish via Facebook is not true. Right now my family is facing a difficult time and we don't know what actions to take, other than make a police report.

"However, we hope that the authorities will do right by my parents who fell victim to the irresponsibility of the fish seller, who would risk other people's lives for their own benefit," she said.

Previously, the media reported that an elderly woman died while her husband was being treated in the ICU after eating puffer fish on Saturday.

https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2023/03/...-poisonous-fish