Insect eating: Nine villagers fall sick after eating raw cicadas

Doctors in Nong Bua Lamphu in Thailand’s north east have warned locals not to eat raw cicadas in their dishes. 

They have said that insects such as this should always be cooked. 

Nine villagers were hospitalized with stomach pains, vomiting and diarrhea after eating the insects raw in the local dishes of “laab” and “koy”. 

Dr Surapong Padungwiang said that fecal and blood samples of those affected were being examined by toxicologists. 

He said that people who buy the insects can’t be sure where they have come from and they could be contaminated and should always be cooked. 

Daily News went so far as to say that some of the patients cheated death after eating the raw insects. 

Meanwhile the director of the Nong Bua Lamphu hospital Chaithawat Niamsiri was seen attending a local religious ceremony called Bun Khao Jee Yai in which he tucked into “laab” made with cicadas – but they were cooked. 

Thai Visa / Daily News

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