Too soon to say if Bosch was poisoned

KwaZulu-Natal police say it is too soon to say whether Tertius Bosch (38) the former South African cricketer was poisoned. Tests on samples taken from his exhumed body have not yet been completed. Vish Naidoo, police spokesperson says media reports saying that Bosch had been poisoned were at this stage purely speculative and irresponsible.

Bosch, who was a dentist, suffered from the rare Giullain Barre Syndrome and died last February, after a long period of illness. It was generally excepted that he died from the disease and an autopsy was never performed.

Giullain Barri Syndrome is an auto immune disease that is triggered by a viral infection, which affects both axon and myelin components of the peripheral nerves, causing an acute state of painful paralysis. The disease causes muscle deterioration, but only five percent of sufferers die.

"We are not investigating a criminal case. Up to now we do not know whether he had been poisoned or not," Naidoo said.

Police obtained a court order allowing the exhumation of Bosch's body after receiving information that he might not have died of natural causes. If evidence of foul play is found, an inquest will be opened.

Bosch's remains were exhumed yesterday, from his grave at the Queensburgh cemetery in Durban and samples taken from his well-preserved, embalmed, body for pathological testing. Today's newspaper reports quoted Reggie Perumal, an independent pathologist, as saying that he managed to get "good organs, hair and fingernail specimens" from the body. He apparently completed the autopsy in two hours.

Perumal was quoted as saying that the clinical presentation of Bosch's embalmed body supported poisoning.
"His skin was dark with white spots, he had lost his hair and there were signs of kidney dysfunction," he said. Perumal tested the samples for various forms of heavy metal poisoning, including amalgam lead (used in dentistry) the toxic component of which is mercury. The samples would be sent for testing and it
could take up to a 10 days.

The pathologist says that he did not want to speak to the media on the matter, only saying that he was "really disappointed with the newspaper report". He says he would not comment on the issue any further. He would wait for the test results to return and then hand over a report to the authorities.

Bosch played for South Africa against the West Indies in the early 90's in Barbados in their first test match after the country was readmitted to world cricket. - Sapa