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

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

Mar 02, 2023 536 likes •650 views

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

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Ciguatera

Timur, Jess and Siddharth

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What is it?

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

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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

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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

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Who is affected?

  • Humans who eat contaminated contaminated reef fish

may develop ciguatera poisoning

  • Fish are unaffected by the toxin
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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.

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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
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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!

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  • 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

Treatment

Activated Charcoal

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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