Ciguatera Timur, Jess and Siddharth What is it? Ciguatera is a - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Ciguatera Timur, Jess and Siddharth

What is it? Ciguatera is a form of food poisoning, caused by eating contaminated fish carrying the ciguatera toxin

Organisms responsible ● Dinoflagellates such as Gambierdiscus toxicus produce ciguatoxin ● The toxin moves up the food chain as the dinoflagellates are eaten by fish Gambierdiscus toxicus

Locations ● Caribbean Sea, Hawaii, and coastal Central America ● With fish from ciguatera endemic areas being shipped nationwide, poisonings can potentially occur in any areas in the United States. Areas known to be at risk for ciguatera

Who is affected? ● Humans who eat contaminated contaminated reef fish may develop ciguatera poisoning ● Fish are unaffected by the toxin

Cause ● Consuming fish that have been contaminated by ciguatera toxin ● This toxin is a heat-stable lipid soluble compound, produced by dinoflagellates and is concentrated in fish organs.

Detection/Symptoms ● Symptoms can include rashes, nausea, pins and needles, ataxia, vomiting, tingling, and numbness. ● Symptoms usually occurs 6-8 hours, but can occur as early as 2 hours or as late as 24 hours after consuming the fish ● can be mistaken for multiple sclerosis ● Usually lasts weeks to months, can last years

Prevention ● Removing entire species of dinoflagellates from the ocean is impractical ● Best way to avoid getting ciguatera is by avoiding consumption of reef fish such as barracuda, grouper, red snapper, eel, amberjack, sea bass, and Spanish mackerel. Avoid reef fish!

Treatment ● Within 30 minutes of ingestion, activated charcoal can absorb the toxin ● Mannitol, a sugar alcohol, can reduce neurological symptoms (via iv) ● Gabapentin has shown promise in alleviating symptoms in two patients ● Large intake of the vitamin B-12 Activated Charcoal

Citations Activated Charcoal Image: http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/wp- content/uploads/2013/02/activated-charcoal-2.jpg http://www.whoi.edu/science/B/redtide/species/cfp_vectorfish.jpg http://www.emedicinehealth.com/wilderness_ciguatera_toxin/article_em.htm https://underthecblog.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/fish_health_01.jpg