2 Cambodians die after eating puffer fish, prompting trade ban of the deadly meat

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: A Cambodian provincial authority has banned the trade of puffer fish meat suspected to have caused the deaths of two villagers recently, a police official said Sunday.

A 23-year-old man died Saturday, and a 13-year-old boy early last week, after both villagers ate salted puffer fish, Suon Phon, deputy police chief of Takeo province, said.

He said the fish was imported from neighboring Vietnam and sold in rural markets in the province, about 90 kilometers (56 miles), south of the capital Phnom Penh.

In the wake of the two deaths, Takeo province governor Srey Ben, banned the trade of the fish across the province to prevent further fatalities, Suon Phon said.

The ovaries, liver and intestines of the puffer fish contain tetrodotoxin, a poison so potent that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it can "produce rapid and violent death."