Seafood delight turns nightmare; five family members die eating pufferfish egg

 

SEAFOOD lovers will find much to love in Malaysia. Blessed by long stretches of beaches and unparalleled access to the sea, we Malaysians have always been spoiled for choice when it comes to seafood.

Although it can be tough for us to turn away the bounties of the ocean, we have every reason to be cautious.

Not all seafood is edible, and the really poisonous stuff is often disguised in harmless forms. 

This statement is best exemplified by a frightening reminder from netizen @mynewshub in a post on X.

According to @mynewshub, five children died from poisoning after ingesting a puffer fish egg which were mistaken as eggs from an Indian threadfin.

The tragedy was way back in 1974, but the lesson learned will always remain relevant.

The threat of serious poisoning is higher where seafood is considered unlike someone who decides to just eat a chicken egg, for example.

The story continued, stating that the tragedy occurred in Kampung Kandang, Melaka.

Apparently 11 family members were poisoned, but only the five kids died — Noraini (11), Mohd Syukur (8), Rohana (6), Hijrah (4), dan Norasyikin (3).

Even more saddening was the fact that they received the eggs from a seller, who convinced them those were Ikan Kurau eggs, or Indian threadfin.

On another note, why are pufferfish eggs so poisonous? Apparently, puffer fish eggs are extremely poisonous because mothers coat them with high concentrations of tetrodotoxin (TTX), a deadly neurotoxin, to protect them from predators.

According to discoverwildlife.com, TTX binds to a victim’s nerve cells, blocking signals and causing paralysis and often death by suffocation, which earns them a very deservedly place among the most dangerous sea creatures in the world.

Pufferfish are able to withstand the toxin due to a genetic mutation that prevents TTX from binding to their nerve cells. 

This adaptation has independently developed across multiple pufferfish species.

Interestingly, similar mutations have also emerged in other animals, such as certain snakes and toads, giving them the same resistance. — Focus Malaysia