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Testing for Ciguatera: An incurable poison from the fish
- Sunday, May 11, 2014
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- Sunday, April 13, 2014
- Sunday, March 30, 2014
A neighbor came down the canal in his boat as I was scrubbing down my boat. One of his smiling fishermen reached into his fish box and proudly displayed a big Amberjack by holding it over his head. After my chores were finished, I walked on down to talk with the happy crew. My neighbor was busy filleting the Amberjack as his wife attempted to figure out how to use a new home Ciguatera test kit, which is designed to detect potential toxins in the meat.
Ciguatera is a very interesting disease -- well, as long as you personally don't have it. It occurs after eating tropical and sub-tropical fish that are contaminated with toxins from dinoflagellate algae (Gambierdiscus). These Ciguatera toxins can be found in numerous reef fish and unfortunately can ultimately end up in your fish dinner. The problem starts with small fish at the bottom of the chain that feed on coral and algae. These reef fish in turn are consumed by predator reef fish and eventually the toxin becomes concentrated in the entire food chain.
Symptoms of Ciguatera poisoning can occur within hours of ingesting the contaminated fish, with many people reporting numbness and tingling around the mouth, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, as well as joint and muscle pain. If Olympic-style pooping and puking isn't enough to get your attention, Ciguatera has the potential to also cause some serious cardiac and neurologic symptoms. One of the more unique neurological symptoms is a "reversal" in cold and hot sensation called cold allodynia. One fisherman in the South Pacific who succumbed to the illness stated that he felt freezing cold even though he was sitting directly under the sizzling hot midday sun. I'm sure fishermen in Key West will be very distraught to learn that one of his most bizarre symptoms was that when he drank a cold beer it actually tasted hot.
There is no antidote or cure for Ciguatera poisoning. The symptoms may last from a few days to a couple of weeks. In severe cases the symptoms may last for months, and there is even the potential for relapses years later. Unfortunately, a few people have even died after contracting the disease, perhaps due to cardiac arrhythmia. World-wide there are an estimated 50,000 cases of Ciguatera reported every year, and it is estimated another ten times more cases will go unreported.
Fishermen state that fish contaminated with Ciguatera toxins appears normal and there is no noticeable change in the look or smell of the meat. Ciguatera toxins are not attenuated by salting, cooking, marinating, freezing, or drying. Ciguatera has been around for centuries and was even documented in Captain Cook's ship's log, which referenced his crew suffering from the malady during their voyage to Tahiti.
Many cultures have created numerous primitive and superstitious ways to determine if a fish is contaminated with Ciguatera. Some islanders believed that if flies landed on the meat then it must be safe to eat (note: flies actually love to land on doggie do-do and I certainly don't plan on eating that). One of my Jamaican friends told me that in his country they put a little bit of the fish on an ant pile, and if the ants ate the meat then it must be okay for them to consume. Stunned, I looked at him and asked if he had ever gone back to check on the ants that ate the meat to see if they were still okay. He softly muttered "no" as he gave me one of the funniest "deer in the headlights stare" I have ever seen. People who live in the tropics/sub-tropics and are dependent on fish for a large part of their diet have even resorted to feeding a little of the fish to the cat. They then wait to see if the cat succumbs to the illness before serving the fish to their family. I just knew there had to be at least one redeeming reason to have a cat hang around -- just joking. Many fishermen also believe that if you rub the fresh fish on your lips and they tingle or become numb, the fish is contaminated with Ciguatera and should be discarded. This method actually seems to have some logic, but I have to wonder, exactly who gets to pick which person is going to rub the fish on their lips?
Ciguatera appears to be almost endemic around certain Caribbean islands, to the point that many of their fish markets no longer even sell local fish, instead only offering "imported" fish. One fisherman I know, who travels all over the globe to fish, told me that he will only eat fish that the locals eat, and always minds his manners, which of course includes letting them eat first.
Obviously, if there is a large presence of dinoflagellates in the local ecosystem, then it stands to reason that fish in the area are also likely to be contaminated with the toxin. So what exactly causes one locale to harbor a high level of debilitating algae? I'm not sure anyone has the answer, but it is certainly one more reason for everyone in the Keys to take good care of our reef as well as the waters that bathe our islands.
Even people who live in the middle of the country, thousands of miles from the ocean are not immune to getting Ciguatera. There was a report of numerous diners in one mid-west town coming down with Ciguatera symptoms after eating "fresh imported fish" at a local restaurant.
It looks like a test kit for Ciguatera may be a great option for certain species and locations. Unfortunately my friend's Ciguatera test kit contained directions that were tedious and cumbersome. To me the instructions appeared to have been written by a scientist and then edited by a team of lawyers. If you are going to use one of these test kits, I would definitely recommend that you not break out the "victory beers" until after testing your dinner for toxins.
The good news is that I have grown up catching and eating fresh fish in the Keys and fortunately I have never come down with Ciguatera poisoning. However, I have heard stories of people getting very sick after eating Barracuda. I guess it pays to be cautious... now where is that darn cat when you really need him... here kitty kitty... just kidding!
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