Ciguatera Fish Poisoning
什麼是Ciguatera Fish Poisoning
Ciguatera fish poisoning is the most common marine food poisoning with over 50,000 cases reported worldwide.
The organisms that produce the ciguatera toxins tend to grow on dead coral reefs, so the risk of acquiring ciguatera fish poisoning is likely to increase as coral reefs continue to die due to global warming, water pollution, direct damage, and other factors.
您如何獲得Ciguatera Fish Poisoning？
Ciguatera fish poisoning is acquired by eating large fish that have been contaminated with various toxins. The toxins (ciguatoxin, maitotoxin and others) come from small marine organisms, known as dinoflagellates, who live in coral reefs. The toxins are concentrated when these organisms are eaten by small fish that are then eaten by larger carnivorous fish.
易感性和抵抗力
Anyone who eats large reef-dwelling fish in tropical areas can get ciguatera fish poisoning.
有哪些症狀？
The initial symptoms of ciguatera fish poisoning can occur within one hour of eating contaminated fish and usually within 24 hours of consumption. These symptoms include diarrhoea, vomiting, and abdominal pain, as well as low blood pressure. Neurological symptoms can occur at the same time as the initial symptoms or follow 1 to 2 days later. Symptoms can persist for weeks to months afterwards. These symptoms include pain and weakness in the legs, tingling or numbness around the lips, hot-to-cold reversal (ice cream tastes hot and coffee tastes cold), vertigo, blurred vision, and pain in the teeth. In severe cases, the neurological symptoms can progress to coma and respiratory failure in the first 24 hours of illness.
Most people with ciguatera fish poisoning recover within a few weeks, however, symptoms can reappear intermittently in the following months or years. The mortality rate for ciguatera poisoning is only around 0.1 percent.
預防措施
最有可能引起中美洲虎中毒的魚是大型（大於6磅）食肉性礁魚，例如a魚，梭子魚，石斑魚，海鰻，鱸魚或st魚。其他有風險的魚包括鸚鵡魚，外科醫生魚和紅鯛魚。當煮熟，熏制，冷凍或通過其他任何食物製備方法時，不會破壞導致瓜瓜魚中毒的毒素。毒素也集中在魚類的某些部位，即肝臟，腸道，魚卵和頭部。如果必須吃高風險的魚，應避免這些部位的魚。
治療
There is no antidote for the toxins that cause ciguatera fish poisoning. Treatment involves supportive measures to lessen the impact of symptoms. The drug, mannitol, given intravenously, can dramatically reduce the length and severity of the symptoms, particularly if given early. This treatment can be life-saving in severe cases that may have progressed to coma without the intravenous mannitol.
通常在哪裡發生？
它發生在熱帶和亞熱帶海洋水域，特別是在加勒比海以及太平洋和印度洋。
