Deadly Methanol Wave in Brazil: Israeli Tourists Told to Avoid All Alcohol

The Israeli Foreign Ministry has issued an unprecedented warning to travelers heading to Brazil, citing a rapidly escalating wave of methanol poisoning linked to a vast and sophisticated counterfeit alcohol market. With reported deaths, cases of blindness, and hundreds of suspected illnesses, the infiltration of industrial methanol into distilled beverages has triggered a public health crisis in Brazil and is part of a worrying global trend.

The official warning highlights recurring incidents of methanol, a toxic and potentially fatal substance, being mixed into alcoholic beverages across several regions. The Brazilian Ministry of Health is actively investigating a possible link between alcohol consumption and a rise in recent sicknesses and fatalities.

The Foreign Ministry’s official guidance urges tourists to exercise extreme caution:

Unusually, the advisory included emergency contact numbers for Israeli embassies in Brazil, reflecting the severity of the threat.

The Brazilian Methanol Crisis: Death, Blindness, and Panic

The Israeli warning comes amid widespread turmoil in Brazil itself. Since late August, the country has reported hundreds of suspected poisoning cases, dozens of patients in serious condition, and at least five confirmed deaths, all linked to counterfeit drinks adulterated with industrial methanol.

One case that shocked the public was the death of Marcelo Lombardi, a 45-year-old lawyer from São Paulo. He went blind and collapsed within hours of consuming vodka purchased as part of his household shopping. Tests confirmed the drink was laced with methanol, which was the direct cause of his rapid death.

Consequently, bars and clubs across São Paulo, especially around Paulista Avenue, are seeing an unprecedented change in drinking habits. Cocktail sales have reportedly plummeted to zero, with customers shifting almost exclusively to beer and wine. One manager reported, "We are simply warning customers not to drink anything distilled. The concern is too real."

Authorities are uncovering a disturbing black market: illegal alcohol factories, the use of cheap methanol instead of safe ethanol, massive label counterfeiting, and the diversion of industrial-grade methanol from gas stations. So far, 41 suspects have been arrested and four illegal factories shut down, but the distribution network is feared to be far larger.

Compounding the crisis is a struggle in hospitals, which are facing shortages of medical-grade ethanol and the antidote fomepizole. Methanol poisoning can initially cause mild symptoms like headaches, dizziness, and nausea, but within 24 hours can lead to optic nerve damage, blindness, and death.

A Global Phenomenon

The Brazilian situation mirrors a growing global problem. The British Foreign Office recently updated its list of countries where methanol poisoning is a significant risk, adding 11 more nations, including India, Malaysia, Morocco, Nepal, and Rwanda. This follows earlier additions like Japan, Mexico, Russia, Ecuador, and Turkey.

Authorities in these nations report a significant increase in the use of counterfeit drinks, often driven by criminal enterprises that add methanol to lower production costs. Crucially, methanol is indistinguishable by taste, smell, or color from safe alcohol.

The UK warning also cautioned against consuming cheap, unbranded, or overly colored distilled spirits, echoing the severity of the risk: "Even a single sip can be fatal."