Ciguatera, a dangerous and unknown food poisoning

José Ernesto Mancera Pineda, director of Universidad Nacional de Colombia in the Caribbean campus, affirms that the existing information in the country about this problem of public health is still poor. Even doctors tend to confuse symptoms of ciguatera with other types of food poisoning; for instance, in San Andres Island"s case.

"Dinoflagellates exist in all seas in the world; some species even live in sweet water. They are the primary food for trophic chains. According to experts, from 500 reported species, 80 could be toxic," said the director.

Mollusk and fish such as barracuda, amberjack fish, jurel, chemas porgy, among others, can transmit the toxins to humans when eaten. This happens since fish eat microalgae, which contain toxic dinoflagellates stuck to their bodies.

Professor Mancera affirms that the bigger the fish, the more accumulated toxins it can contain. In addition, contaminated fish are related to specific fishing areas where dinoflagellates are concentrated in algae.

The warning is made since global warming seems to be increasing the amount of toxic dinoflagellates in the sea. Besides, the increasing practice of navigation is also bringing this type of problem. As a result, humans are more exposed.

In San Andres Island, last June 14 people suffered from ciguatera food poisoning, nine of them residents of the island who consumed barracuda and three who consumed jurel. All of them had to be taken to medical centers in Bogotá and Medellín.

"What we are doing at Universidad National de Colombia is identifying the places where infected fish are, and the incidence in the population. We have found around 11 species of toxic dinoflagellates in certain areas. One of the most dangerous is the Gambierdiscus toxicus, which can only be seen with an electronic microscope. In rainy seasons, higher peaks are observed, since rain provides better nutrients for sea life reproduction," said Mancera.

One of the main characteristics of these dinoflagellates is that their toxins are not destroyed when fish is cooked. On the contrary, for instance, the poison in lionfish"s spines is dissolved at high temperatures since it has protein origin, a characteristic that toxics from dinoflagellates do not have.

Mancera affirms that authorities have to be aware of the problem, not only in the island, but in the entire Caribbean coast. He says that some people do not want to "talk" about this topic, since it can affect tourism; however, the problem is the lack of information about this situation, which implies the application of bad treatments that can even cause death.

"Training doctors is essential, as well as implementing quality controls in fishing. It is important to make sample analysis, as other countries do, in order to reject contaminated fish. Additionally, it is necessary to support research for establishing the places where these toxic creatures reproduce," affirms the scientist from Universidad Nacional de Colombia.

Countries such as Brazil, Chile, and Cuba are fully aware of the ciguatera problem; as a result, they have better security standards. "This is a problem of public health and it demands attention," mentioned Professor José Ernesto Mancera.

Be careful with food poisoning

• The symptoms are vomit, abdominal pain, diarrhea and nauseas.
• The symptoms appear between 3 and 23 hours after the toxins consumption.
• The neurological sequels can continue for months or even years.
• The subsequent symptoms, between 12 and 18 hour after consumption, are headache, allergies, muscular paralysis, visual and auditory hallucinations, irregular pulse and blood pressure reduction, among others.