South Africa-Small boy dead and 118 people in hospital after eating contaminated meat.

A five-year-old boy died and 118 people are being treated in Guqa in the Eastern Cape after they consumed meat from a dead ox.

It is suspected that the meat might have been contaminated with tick-dip chemicals.

Sizwe Kupelo, spokesperson for the Eastern Cape health department, said the boy died on Sunday after villagers ate meat from a dead ox.

Seven villagers were taken to the St Barnabas Hospital in Libode for treatment, while two mobile hospitals have been sent to the village.

"About a hundred villagers are being treated for diarrhoea and stomach cramps," said Kupelo.

A 13-year-old boy was receiving treatment in the hospital’s high care unit, while the other patients admitted to hospital were in general wardsKupelo said an inquest docket had been opened to find out what the boy died of, and tests were being done to find out what caused the illness.

The six nurses dispatched to the scene reported that the ox had an enlarged liver. All the patients had eaten meat from the ox. It was not sure what the animal had died of, but Kupelo said the villagers said that they had earlier treated it with chemicals to rid it of ticks.

"The people are not in danger. They just have stomach cramps and mild diarrhoea. We are just treating them as a precautionary measure," said Kupelo. - Sapa