The Ministry of Public Health (MSP) of Ecuador reported this Sunday that it maintains vigilance for cases of intoxication due to the consumption of methyl alcohol, which it has already stopped 17 deceased.
In a statement, it indicated that Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas and Esmeraldas are the provinces where they have been identified at the moment 50 cases of intoxication due to consumption of methyl alcohol.
“Until the report of this 30 October 2022, 17 deceased people are reported. Nine correspond to the province of Esmeraldas, all men between 26 and 84 years of age; while, in Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, 8 deaths are registered between 25 and 56 years, of them, a woman”, he detailed.
Of the total number of 55 people treated for this type of intoxication, 16 are from Esmeraldas and 39 from Santo Domingo, a province in which 5 medical discharges have been carried out.
The Ministry made a call for co-responsibility to citizens to avoid the consumption of alcohol of dubious origin that does not have the necessary permits.
And recalled that methyl alcohol is a toxic substance that can cause serious consequences, even death.
The MSP maintains active surveillance of people who consumed this type of alcohol and present warning symptoms such as blurred vision, nausea, dizziness, abdominal pain. In addition, it asked citizens to go to the nearest health center in the event of showing related symptoms.
As a result of the massive intoxication, the Ecuadorian authorities recently carried out an operation in several points of Santo Domingo of the Tsáchilas where they seized 50,000 liters of “alcohol of doubtful origin”; although they admitted that they could not determine that this was the origin of the current outbreak.
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