By Matthew Okello
TORORO
Tororo district authorities have instructed residents to stop with immediate effect the consumption of a common mushroom locally known as Chaminula.
The Red alert was issued by the Western Division Health Department yesterday, 6th March, 2023 after a suspected poisonous mushroom species was discovered in Agururu A3 village.
On Sunday, 5th March, 2023, children from different families moved out to go and hunt for mushrooms in the morning hours and majority of them were successful and brought a handful of mushrooms.
Silivika Kasilo, one of the residents whose children brought mushrooms at home, immediately sun dried them in preparation to cook.
Kasilo says that when she started cooking the commonly edible mushrooms, the soup turned thick green after producing a cloud of foam.
Kasilo upon witnessing the strange look of the mushrooms abandoned the dish but waited until yesterday, 6th March, 2023 when she rushed with the mushroom to Western health department for examinations.
Sarah Acen, the Western health assistant says that they are going to institute an investigation on the mushroom to ascertain whether the mushroom species is poisonous or it was purposely poisoned by a stranger while being cooked.
She then asked the people of western division to suspend cooking of all forms of mushrooms until the investigations on the suspected poisonous mushroom are concluded.
The Western division LCIII chairperson Al-Jamal Manyadi popularly known as Lil Jayz asked the populace to be very vigilant and avoid eating anything that comes their way inspite of the biting hunger and the sufferings.
He immediately dispatched a health team to go on the ground and sensitize people to avoid incidences of food poisoning.
