Puffer fish (File photo from nataliadj.com)
LEGAZPI CITY– A four-year-old girl died on Thursday morning several hours after she shared a meal of puffer fish, locally known as “butete” or “tikong,” with her family in Siruma town in Camarines Sur province on Wednesday night, a health official said.
In a telephone interview, Dr. John Paul Reazon, chief of the Tinambac Municipal Hospital, said Mia Borines died while four members of her family experienced symptoms of food poisoning.
Reazon said the victim’s father, Romeo, 48, cooked the fish for dinner on Wednesday. By 6 a.m. Thursday, Romeo and his children Mia; Mar, 9; Christine, 6; and Romeo Jr., 14, experienced vomiting, weakness and difficulty in breathing.
Romeo’s wife and the children’s mother, whom Reazon did not identify, was spared after she consumed only the broth of the cooked fish.
Romeo and his children Mar, Christine and Romeo Jr. were reported to be in stable condition as of Thursday afternoon. SFM