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Toxins in Fish Sicken At Least 28 in Several U.S. States
Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Several outbreaks of ciguatera fish poisoning have been confirmed in consumers who ate fish harvested in the northern Gulf of Mexico, the Food and Drug Administration said this week.

The FDA said that fish such as grouper, snapper, amberjack and barracuda represent the most significant threat to consumers. They feed on fish that have eaten toxic marine algae. The toxin is stable in the tissue of living fish and does them no harm. But larger carnivores have higher concentrations of the toxin in their tissues. As a result, the greatest risk of poisoning for humans comes from the largest fish.

Symptoms of ciguatera poisoning include nausea, vomiting, vertigo and joint pain. In the most serious cases, neurological problems can last for months or even years. Several outbreaks of the illness were confirmed in Washington, D.C., and St. Louis, the FDA said. Overall, there have been at least 28 reported cases across the country, with the first case being reported in late November.

The fish linked to the illnesses were harvested near the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, an area of 56 square miles in the northwestern Gulf. The FDA recommends that processors not purchase fish harvested near the sanctuary.

Ciguatera is common in fish living in tropical and subtropical regions, including the Caribbean Sea, the South Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean. But the FDA has considered it rare for fish in the northern Gulf of Mexico to have the toxin.

The FDA warned processors to reassess their hazard control plans as necessary, and that failure to take proper precautions may cause products to be considered adulterated by the agency.

Consumers who think they may have ciguatera poisoning are encouraged to report their symptoms and what fish they ate to a doctor or local health department.

Yeah, da Judge's friend, Greg S. and his wife got it after eating a large grouper from the Flower Garden Bank. He was sick for many months.

picked that up while on Vieques once.

The best way to check fish for that is to place some of the meat on an ant hill and if they run from it it is no good.

The President of Cayman Airways when I was working on the account was a Cuban and he told me that they always checked out their Baracuda catches that way. Threw a scrap on the ground. No ants...no eat.

Brewster & Walter

I thought that was an old wives tail. Used to charter a boat down on Grand Caymen. We had a couple of Barracuda one day and the Capt. was going to give them to some folks he knew. When I questioned about their taking a chance he said just set some out on an ant hill and wait and see. Never believed him. Tony

Brewster Minton wrote:The best way to check fish for that is to place some of the meat on an ant hill and if they run from it it is no good.

Brewster what if it winter time like now??? They all seem to be hiding!

You can check it with a cat also but sometimes they eat it and you have to wait 4-5 hours to see if it dies or at least stops breathing

Nice!!!

I think Brewster and Walter are pulling our leg. Tony

I had a cat once sipped some petrol (what you call 'gas') and went ballistic, ran around and around the house until it finally stopped, lay down and didn't move.

Nic

What happened to the cat, did it die? I hear you ask.

No, it ran out of petrol.

Nic

(Sorry)

Speaking for myself, I can't say I've tried it, but I've heard the same thing from Captains in Jamaica, the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands and now our resident Seafood expert and Restauranteur, Brewster...none of whom know each other. We had a situation here in East Hampton about five years ago when a summertime owner came out in the early Spring for a weekend and her elderly cat (who always drank a lot of water) wouldn't drink any water given to it, but kept on crying. When it was finally given bottled water, it gobbled up practically a whole bottle. The owner, being suspicious took back a sample of her well water and had it tested and found it to be loaded with a chemical used to process Crack. Seems over the winter, one of the neighboring houses in the area was being used to process Crack and was flushing the chemical down the toilet when they were finished with it and it created a plume in the watertable, thus contaminating it. Odorless, colorless and tasteless, everyone in the area was drinking it, bathing in it, cooking with it, etc......but the cat wouldn't touch it! If ants won't eat a piece of fish on the ground, I'll trust a member of mother nature's team far more than the FDA. Because of that cat, the whole Northwest area of East Hampton now has public water piped in...and they never caught the Crack processers. True story. Walter

Walter

It was a Captain in the Caymen Islands that told me the same story but I guess I will have to see it to believe it. I can believe that about the cat. Animals have a great sense of smell. We think something is oderless but they can pick it up. If I ever make to Grand Caymen again I will have to try and check it out. Tony

not far from the crack house was the "pot" house....they were using so many grow lights that the electric meters were spinnin like tops...no harm to the environment.....but they got caught. the area used to be one of the most remote parts of long island in winter...we would cross country ski for hours without seeing a building.....now there are a lot more houses and a lot less snow.

Tony- Was the Captain Eugene Ebanks? I used to do all the Advertising for The Cayman Islands and Cayman Airways before I retired. Went down there almost monthly for twelve years. Walter

There is one more way of telling if it is bad. Take a piece of silver and place it in the meat for ten min and if it turns blackish do not eat it.

Brewster...is that an FDA approved test?

I could just see explaining that -

Hey Mr Minton...why is this fish on the floor?
I was checking to see if it is fit to eat of course...

You where right about the Cat

Originally, ciguatoxin was linked to poison passed to tropical fish through consumption. However, the exact source of the toxin was unknown, and many sources were identified as the culprit. Some of these included the manchineel fruit, cocculus berries, palolo worms, compounds containing copper, pumice, and corallina opuntia.

In Northern Australia, where ciguatera is a common problem, two different methods are widely believed to be available for determining that fish harbors significant levels of ciguatoxin. The first method is that if a piece of fish is contaminated with the toxin, flies will not land on it. The second is that the toxin can be detected by feeding a piece of fish to a cat, as cats are allegedly highly sensitive to ciguatoxin and will display symptoms. It is not known whether there is any veracity to either belief.

Walter

It was Hevard Smith. He owned the Caymen Sunset. It was a 38 Bert. He was a real gentleman. Was great to fish with. Always treated me well. I sent a bunch of Cedar Plugs one time. He loved them. Had never seen them before. He said the only problem he had with them is that the Marlin kept trying to eat them. Horrible problem to have. Caught a 64lb Bull dolphin with him one day. He was pretty well known down there. Not sure if he is still around. Tony

Very informative thread guys.

If only we could use our minds for good, think of the possibilities.

Bruce--

The first confirmed case in the Northern Gulf was my friend Greg Scofelia
and his wife. They got it from a Grouper they caught at the Flower Gardens. Since they still had some of the fish left, they were able to confirm that what they had was truly Ciguatera.

You met Greg at my house when you and Patrick were down here. He is the guy that lives behind me with all the hugh Oak trees in his yard.

Trey