Toxins Chemistry, Toxicology, and Detection

Ciguatera fish poisoning is a human disease that is endemic to many tropical and subtropical coral reef regions of the world. It is contracted by consumption of flnflsh that have accumulated lipid-soluble ciguatoxins, which are transmitted through the food web from the primary production level (i.e., Gambierdiscus spp.) to apex piscine predators. With its characteristic gastrointestinal, 

Seafood and Freshwater Toxins Pharmacology, Physiology, and Detection 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a leading cause of finfish-associated food-borne disease in the United States. 

Ciguatera is a consistently underappreciated and underreported problem. Many affected communities are at marginal socioeconomic or subsistence levels. Tourist hotels in tropical regions can afford to import their fish (and, in areas of high endemicity, such as the Virgin Islands, almost all do so), while local populations remain at risk. The public health impact of ciguatera is particularly high in remote atoll countries of the Pacific where daily intake of reef fish may exceed 100 g/person per day (Lewis, 1992) and where fish represent a major protein source that cannot be fully exploited, 

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