Episode
Outbreak: 75 Fatalities After a Funeral Poisoning in Mozambique
- Podcast
- The Poison Lab
- Published
- May 7, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 150
- Processing state
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Summary
In this episode of The Poison Lab Outbreak , Ryan talks with Dr. Alaina Steck about a devastating mass poisoning in Mozambique that began at a funeral and ultimately sickened more than 200 people, with a fatality toll of over 70. Early reports blamed crocodile bile. Others suspected intentional poisoning. But as the investigation unfolded, the clinical picture, timeline, and exposure history did not fit neatly with the early theories. Dr. Steck, then a medical toxicology fellow at Emory, joined a CDC-supported outbreak investigation team sent to Mozambique. She walks through what it was like to investigate the outbreak on the ground, including the overwhelmed rural health center, limited medical records, scarce biological and environmental samples, early toxicologic hypotheses, and the eventual role of comparative food testing in identifying the cause. This episode explores the real-world uncertainty of outbreak investigation: incomplete data, competing theories, community fear, and the importance of epidemiology, toxicology, public health, and analytical chemistry working together. Topics Covered Mass poisoning investigation in rural Mozambique Early reports of crocodile bile and suspected intentional poisoning Clinical presentations including GI symptoms, seizures, pulmonary edema, liver injury, kidney injury, and multisystem disease Challenges of interpreting sparse medical records during a mass casualty event How toxicologists approach possible intentional poisoning Why exposure history and timing matter in outbreak investigation The importance of control samples in analytical testing Lessons for clinicians, poison centers, and public health teams Guest Dr. Alaina Steck Medical toxicologist, Emory University Former medical toxicology fellow involved in the CDC-supp…