Authorities investigate suspected methanol poisoning and tighten restrictions on locally produced alcoholic mixtures
UNITY TIMES HEALTH DESK
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A public-health tragedy is unfolding in Ondo State, where the death toll linked to the consumption of suspected toxic locally produced alcoholic and herbal mixtures popularly known as “Monkey Tail” has risen to 49, according to state authorities.
The number of affected people has also climbed to about 170, with the latest deaths reported in Irele Local Government Area. The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Banji Ajaka, disclosed the updated figures on Wednesday as investigations continued into the source of the suspected poisoning.
The tragedy initially centred on communities in Odigbo Local Government Area but has now extended to Irele, raising concerns about the circulation of unregulated alcoholic mixtures.
Authorities are investigating whether methanol, a highly toxic form of alcohol that can cause severe poisoning, blindness and death, is responsible for the illnesses and fatalities.
Police said substances suspected to contain methanol had been recovered and sent for forensic examination. Several people have also been arrested in connection with the production, sale or distribution of the suspected toxic drinks.
The Ondo State Government has imposed restrictions on the production and sale of locally brewed alcoholic and alcoholic-herbal drinks in affected areas as part of its response.
The authorities have also urged residents to avoid consuming alcoholic or herbal preparations whose ingredients and production processes cannot be verified.
The tragedy highlights a wider public-health vulnerability: the danger posed by products sold outside formal regulatory and quality-control systems.
Herbal preparations occupy an important place in many Nigerian communities, while locally produced alcoholic beverages are also widely consumed. But the absence of reliable information about ingredients, dosage, contamination and production conditions can turn a familiar product into a serious health hazard.
The scale of the Ondo deaths makes the issue even more urgent. At least 48 deaths had already been independently reported by the Associated Press, with more than 100 people receiving treatment, as police investigations continued.
The final cause of the deaths, however, remains subject to investigation and laboratory confirmation. Authorities have not yet established publicly that every death was caused by methanol or identified the precise contaminant responsible. For communities already mourning dozens of lives, that distinction may offer little comfort.
The immediate priority is identifying the substance, tracing its distribution chain, treating those exposed and preventing further consumption. But the longer-term question is whether Nigeria’s regulatory and public-health systems can reach the informal markets where potentially dangerous alcoholic and medicinal mixtures are produced and consumed.
The Ondo tragedy is therefore more than a local disaster. It is a warning about what can happen when tradition, informal commerce, weak quality control and public health collide.
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