Dangers from Fish

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Even people who don’t like shellfish are still vulnerable to seafood poisoning. A new realm of toxic dangers awaits us at the fish shop.

Ciguatera

Ciguatera is the most commonly reported fish-borne illness, accounting for one in eight of food poisoning events in the U.S. and 25,000 cases worldwide. Ciguatera toxins don’t come from chain- smoking fish. They can be found in fish that are near the top of the food chain, such as barracuda, red snapper, grouper, amberjack, surgeonfish, sea bass, and even moray eel. More than 50 fish species have, at one time or another, been found to cause ciguatera poisoning. Obviously the toxins aren’t present at all times, because no one would eat those fish species if that were so. On the other hand, ciguatera poisoning can be caused by almost any fish if eaten at the wrong time and the wrong place.

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Ciguatera toxins probably start out in dinoflagellates, similar to those that produce red tide and neurotoxic shellfish toxin. Some Australian scientists, however, think the culprit might be a blue- green cyanobacterium (Oscilatoria erythraea) that makes large reddish pink slicks on the ocean’s surface. Locals call this ‘sea sawdust’ or ‘whale sperm’. Regardless of the original source, ciguatera toxins get concentrated as they move up the food chain. Supposedly they are harmless to the fish and don’t alter the taste or texture of the fish. Because two of the toxins are fat-soluble, the viscera tend to have higher levels than muscle.

Symptoms

The clinical picture is confusing because there are 27 different chemicals involved. Some affect nerve activity and others cause muscle damage. Because the proportions of these toxins are not constant, the symptoms of ciguatera poisoning are quite variable. Symptoms begin from half an hour to six hours after eating a toxic fish. Most victims find that alcohol makes the disease much worse.

One Australian fisherman had been dining on frozen pieces of a coral trout. (A reasonable proposition, since just one coral trout in five thousand has ciguatera toxin.) There were no problems until on the third or fourth day he had a whiskey after dinner. That brought on a bout of itching, leg muscle pain, headache, and such profound lassitude and depression, lasting for two days, that he had to seek medical attention.

The initial symptoms are frequently vomiting, watery diarrhoea, and abdominal cramps. Next comes stomach upsets, numbness and tingling of lips, fingers, and toes, feeling of teeth being loose, reversal of hot and cold sensations.

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