{"id":96024,"date":"2026-02-18T20:47:35","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T20:47:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/dart-frog-toxin-allegedly-used-to-poison-navalny"},"modified":"2026-02-18T21:14:03","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T21:14:03","slug":"dart-frog-toxin-allegedly-used-to-poison-navalny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/dart-frog-toxin-allegedly-used-to-poison-navalny","title":{"rendered":"Dart Frog Toxin Allegedly Used to Poison Navalny"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was killed using a deadly toxin found in poison dart frogs in South America, the UK and some of its European allies have said.<\/p>\n<p>Traces of epibatidine were found in samples from Navalny\u2019s body and highly likely resulted in his death in a Siberian penal colony two years ago, the UK Foreign Office said.<\/p>\n<p>The allies said only the Russian state had the \u201cmeans, motive and opportunity\u201d to deploy this lethal toxin.<\/p>\n<p>The Kremlin dismissed the finding as \u201can information campaign\u201d, according to Tass news agency.<\/p>\n<p>What is the toxin?<\/p>\n<p>Epibatidine is a natural neurotoxin isolated from the skin of the Ecuadorian poison dart frog, according to toxicology expert Jill Johnson.<\/p>\n<p>It was \u201c200 times more potent\u201d than morphine, she told BBC Russian.<\/p>\n<p>Epibatidine can be found naturally in dart frogs in the wild in South America as well as being manufactured in a laboratory.<\/p>\n<p>Dart frogs in captivity do not produce this toxin and it is not found naturally in Russia, the European allies said in their statement.<\/p>\n<p>Species known as Anthony\u2019s poison arrow frog and the Phantasmal poison frog are among those that secrete the toxin onto their skin.<\/p>\n<p>Although epibatidine has been investigated as a painkiller and for relief from painful inflammatory lung conditions, it is not used clinically because of its toxicity.<\/p>\n<p>How does dart frog poison work?<\/p>\n<p>This powerful chemical compound acts on nicotinic receptors in the nervous system, according to Johnson.<\/p>\n<p>Because it overstimulates these nerve receptors, if dosed correctly, it can cause muscle twitching, paralysis, seizures, slow heart rate, respiratory failure and ultimately death, she explained.<\/p>\n<p>Alastair Hay, professor of environmental toxicology at the University of Leeds, told PA that its effects can result in breathing being blocked, and that \u201cany person poisoned dies from suffocation\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The toxin being found in someone\u2019s blood \u201csuggests deliberate administration\u201d, he added.<\/p>\n<p>Epibatidine toxicity can even be \u201cincreased by co-administration of certain other drugs and these combinations have been researched\u201d, Hay said.<\/p>\n<p>How rare is the toxin?<\/p>\n<p>Epibatidine is extremely rare and found in only one geographic region and only in trace amounts, Johnson said.<\/p>\n<p>It is understood the dart frog referred to by the UK Foreign Office and others was Anthony\u2019s poison arrow frog, a species endemic to Ecuador and Peru.<\/p>\n<p>The frogs produce the chemical through eating the right foods to produce alkaloids \u2013 a type of organic compound \u2013 that make epibatidine and accumulate it in their skin. If the frog\u2019s diet changes, its epibatidine reserves will be depleted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFinding a wild frog in the right place, eating exactly the food needed to produce the right alkaloids, is almost impossible&#8230; almost,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is an incredibly rare method of human poisoning. The only other cases of epibatidine poisoning I know of were laboratory-based and non-fatal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>What has Russia said?<\/p>\n<p>European laboratories confirmed Navalny died from the obscure poison, the allies said on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>Moscow has previously claimed Navalny died of natural causes, though Navalny\u2019s widow Yulia Navalnaya has consistently argued her husband was \u201cmurdered\u201d by poisoning.<\/p>\n<p>The Russian embassy in London denied Moscow was involved in Navalny\u2019s death and described the announcement as \u201cfeeble-mindedness of Western fabulists\u201d and \u201cnecro-propaganda\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Kremlin spokesperson Maria Zakharova was quoted by Russian state-run news agency Tass as saying: \u201cAll the talks and statements are an information campaign aimed at distracting attention from the West\u2019s pressing problems.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At the time of his death, Navalny had been in jail for three years and had latterly been transferred to an Arctic penal colony.<\/p>\n<p>According to Russian accounts, the 47-year-old took a short walk, said he felt unwell, then collapsed and never regained consciousness.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">South-Africa<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; South-Africa. Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was killed using a deadly toxin found in poison dart frogs in South America, the UK and some of its European allies have said. Traces of epibatidine were found in samples from Navalny\u2019s body and highly likely resulted in his death in a Siberian penal colony two [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":96023,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,9],"tags":[275],"class_list":["post-96024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-miscellaneous","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Dart Frog Toxin Allegedly Used to Poison Navalny - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was killed using a deadly toxin found in poison dart frogs in South America, th ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/dart-frog-toxin-allegedly-used-to-poison-navalny\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dart Frog Toxin Allegedly Used to Poison Navalny\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was killed using a deadly toxin found in poison dart frogs in South America, th ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/dart-frog-toxin-allegedly-used-to-poison-navalny\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-18T20:47:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-18T21:14:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2026\/02\/sm_1771435979.561848.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"731\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/dart-frog-toxin-allegedly-used-to-poison-navalny#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/dart-frog-toxin-allegedly-used-to-poison-navalny\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Dart Frog Toxin Allegedly Used to Poison Navalny\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-18T20:47:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-18T21:14:03+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/dart-frog-toxin-allegedly-used-to-poison-navalny\"},\"wordCount\":632,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/dart-frog-toxin-allegedly-used-to-poison-navalny#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2026\/02\/sm_1771435979.561848.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"miscellaneous\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/dart-frog-toxin-allegedly-used-to-poison-navalny#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/dart-frog-toxin-allegedly-used-to-poison-navalny\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/dart-frog-toxin-allegedly-used-to-poison-navalny\",\"name\":\"Dart Frog Toxin Allegedly Used to Poison Navalny - 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