Alcohol tainted with potentially toxic levels of methanol has killed 19 people in Costa Rica, where authorities issued an alert against drinking some half-dozen brands.
The Ministry of Health issued the national warning Friday while also updating the death toll.
Of 34 people who have been poisoned, 14 men and five women, age 32 to 72, have died since the first week of June, the ministry said.
Tainted alcohol believed to be cause of 19 deaths in Costa Rica
— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) July 21, 2019
They believe the cause is methanol poisoning, but the ministry stressed that the information is “preliminary as investigations continue.”https://t.co/3G9Ho7x9Ol
Authorities warned that it was not known how much alcohol had been adulterated, but have confiscated some 30,000 bottles and are carrying out a countrywide investigation.
The doctored alcohol contained between 30 to 50 percent methanol, according to Donald Corella, head of emergency services at Calderon Guardia Hospital in San Jose, who was quoted in the daily La Nacion.
Alcohol tainted with potentially toxic levels of methanol has killed 19 people in Costa Rica, where authorities issued an alert against drinking some half-dozen brands. https://t.co/cdgaRKFW1b
— The Youth Times (@youthtimes) July 21, 2019
He said six people who were treated at his hospital had died, while four others survived but suffered "very serious after-effects" ranging from irreversible total blindness to brain lesions that cause tremors similar to Parkinson's disease.
If ingested in large quantities, methanol can cause blindness, liver damage and death.
According to authorities, the majority of the 19 deaths occurred among homeless and alcoholic individuals.
