Towards the end of this week, over 100 residents in Igembe South and Central sub-counties in Meru were rushed to hospital after feasting on a dead camel. The Malaene village residents were said to have found the carcass in a nearby forest a day before, dragged it to the village and shared the meat.

This morning, a number of residents were treated and discharged. On the other hand,, seven of them, including six children remained admitted at Nyambene Level 4 Hospital with symptoms of diarrhoea and vomiting. Others complained of headaches and stomachaches.

“Several people were brought in for admission after eating a camel that had not been tested and approved by a doctor. By bad luck, they suffered from food poisoning,” Githu Wachira a doctor at the hospital stated. 

It is reported that a number of the victims said that the feast happened after some villagers herding cattle slaughtered two dead animals and shared the meat with other villagers.

“My children and I had not eaten for two days because of the acute drought we are experiencing. When we were told there was a dead camel in the bush, we happily rushed to get a share of the meat without thinking twice,” Damaris Kinya, one of the affected villagers, recalled. 

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“We are hungry. We have not received rain in the last three years,” one of the patients lamented. 

Luckily, no deaths were reported from the incident. Dr Wachira, however, stated that they were monitoring patients who were in critical conditions. Dr Wachira urged the residents to exercise caution and consume meat purchased from certified butcheries.