…Methanol Laced ‘Monkey Tail’ Leaves 48 Dead, 5 Blind
….15 Suspects Arrested
The Nigeria Medical Association – NAFDAC Liaison Committee has blamed high concentration of methanol in local concoction, ‘monkey tail’, for recent mass deaths in Ondo State.
Chairman of the committee, Dr. Azim Adekunle Ashimi, said laboratory tests by NAFDAC on samples from Odigbo, Irele and surrounding Local Government Areas confirmed methanol and cannabis indica.
He said 182 persons were affected, 48 died, five were permanently blinded and two suffered partial visual loss.
Ashimi explained that methanol, an industrial solvent, metabolises into formic acid which destroys optic nerve, causing irreversible blindness, severe acidosis, organ failure and death.
According to him, victims presented with severe headache, abdominal pain, weakness, altered consciousness, breathing difficulty and snowfield vision after consuming the drink.
He urged health workers in Ondo and neighbouring states to suspect methanol poisoning in cases of sudden blindness or unexplained acidosis linked to local alcoholic or herbal mixtures.
The committee recommended prompt resuscitation, airway management, acidosis correction, antidotes, urgent haemodialysis and immediate reporting to health authorities and NAFDAC.
The committee acknowledged the arrest of 15 suspects but demanded a full crackdown on informal distilleries, illegal herbal mixture blenders and open-market distribution networks.
It also called for nationwide sensitisation against consumption of unlabelled, unregistered alcoholic beverages and stricter control over the supply chain of methanol to prevent its diversion into beverage production.
