Villagers on Pemba Island in Tanzania captured a turtle, cooked it and distributed it to the entire village.

Unexpectedly, 38 people were hospitalized after eating it, and 7 people died of poisoning. The dead included a family of three, as young as 3 years old.

Turtles are a common delicacy for people living on Tanzania's islands and coastal areas, but authorities have now banned their consumption in the area.

In rare cases, turtle meat may produce chitin that can be toxic to those who eat it.

Zanzibar official Hussein Mwinyi expressed his condolences to the family of the deceased on Twitter.

Eating sea turtles is not only unhelpful, but also carries significant health risks. The nutritional value of sea turtles and other sea turtles is not higher than that of other aquatic animals, and there is no scientific research showing that sea turtles have the effect of curing diseases.

Sea turtles are carriers of many harmful bacteria and their bodies contain a variety of toxins, including biotoxins, heavy metals and organic pollutants.

Eating turtles can cause acute or chronic poisoning.

Although sea turtles are listed as protected animals in most countries around the world, people in some areas still eat sea turtles due to lack of food or the belief that eating sea turtle meat can cure anemia, asthma and even cancer.

Sea turtles themselves are not poisonous, as are many poisonous marine plants and animals, including poisonous jellyfish and seaweed.

Over time, the toxins accumulate in the turtle's fat.

Scientists have also discovered the presence of a variety of harmful bacteria and toxins in sea turtles.

Sea turtles are also carriers of many pathogenic microorganisms and parasites.

A variety of pathogenic bacteria that may be harmful to human health have been isolated and identified from the digestive tracts and cloaca of sea turtles.

Various parasites such as Leptospira, Entamoeba, Cryptosporidium, Trematodes and Spiral Nematodes are found in their tissues and organs and on their eggs.

In some areas, fluke infection rates among sea turtles are as high as 85%.

Fluke eggs can be found in many tissues and organs of sea turtles, and the meat is extremely unsafe to eat.