Symptoms suggest substance used in traditional Chinese medicine may be behind illnesses
Aug 29, 2022
A suspected poisoning at a Markham, Ont., restaurant has left at least 12 people seriously ill — with four of those needing intensive care in hospital — and the culprit could be a substance sometimes used in traditional Chinese medicine, according to health experts.
Dr. Barry Pakes, medical officer of health for York Region, told CBC Toronto on Tuesday that all of the patients who fell ill after eating at Delight Restaurant & BBQ on the weekend are “doing well” and are expected to recover.
York Region Public Health’s investigation is ongoing, and no firm conclusions can yet be drawn about what exactly caused them to become sick, Pakes said. But their symptoms point to the possibility that they ingested aconite, sometimes called wolf’s bane or the queen of poisons, which is derived from a particular genus of plants.
Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/suspected-poisoning-markham-restaurant-1.6566001