Ciguatera Danger: Rare Toxic Fish Poisoning Can Happen to You Like it Did Me
This is worse than regular food poisoning
Health and Wellness
This is worse than regular food poisoning
Dinner turns into a health disaster
It was 2007. I went to a nice upscale restaurant in the suburbs of Dallas, Texas. This restaurant was the type to serve the fresh catch of the day and other natural food you would assume is healthy.
I ordered the fresh fish-of-the-day. My server told me it was either Grouper or Amberjack. Those are 2 main types of fish caught in the Gulf of Mexico and shipped fresh daily to other parts of Texas.
I had never eaten Grouper or Amberjack before and was delighted with my meal. It was tasty, it didn’t have a fishy smell, it certainly didn’t ring any alarm bells for me.
Six hours later I was in the thralls of throwing up, non-stop, heaving out whatever was in me that my body was rejecting. I thought it was food poisoning. My husband thought it was food poisoning. He ate at the restaurant with me, but did not order the fish-of-the-day. He was fine.
My symptoms worsened as the night wore on. I had nothing left in my stomach to eject. It was all gone. I was still dry-heaving though. I was weak. I collapsed on the bathroom floor, too weak to stand anymore. I tried to close my eyes and sleep. I was shaking.
I thought I was having a reaction to something. I know my body sensitivities. I was pretty sure I would get through this as nothing more than a severe bout with food poisoning.
By the next day, my vomiting had subsided. I was still feeling extremely nauseous and too weak to stand up.
My husband had handed me a very cold can of soda. I nearly dropped it because it felt burning hot.
I went to brush my teeth and rinse with cold water. The water felt hot.
And oddly enough, things that were warm to the touch, felt cold. I thought I was losing my mind.
I finally asked my husband to take me to the Doctor. This was weird.
Help, Doctor! What is happening to me?
My husband took me to an emergency clinic, separate from a hospital but one was adjacent nearby if needed. I felt like I was going to die.
The Doctor questioned me about my symptoms. I was sort of embarrassed to tell him anything, as it all seemed so weird. I explained the vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, chills, feverish, stomach-doing-somersaults for the last 24 hours. Told him I felt extremely weak. I thought it was my blood sugar levels tanking. I also assumed he would tell me to drink electrolytes.
He asked if there were any other symptoms. He asked what I had eaten prior to the episode. I told him fresh fish. He then stared at me harder, and asked what kind? I told him the type of fish the server had told me, but wasn’t sure exactly which one it was.
I finally told him about the odd reversed hot & cold sensation in my hands.
He left the room momentarily, came back and proceeded to tell me I most likely had a case of Ciguatera.
See-gwah-what? I asked. Stunned, curious, maybe a bit afraid. What is that?
He went on to explain that what I had was not regular food poisoning but a more severe type of toxic poisoning called Ciguatera. It comes from reef fish caught where there is an algal bloom in the ocean. It is commonly found in fish in the Gulf of Mexico because the runoff from the Mississippi River causes the Algae bloom to spread into the Gulf.
All this information was boggling my mind. I kept throwing sideways glances to my husband who was also trying to absorb it all as fast as he could too.
Ciguatera. What the hell was that?
The Doctor gave me more information on it and said I could have long-lasting nerve damage to my hands. He said there was no specific remedy to treat it and it would have to run its course. Sometimes, he said, they treat immediate cases with mannitol. But it was not curative, just palliative.
The Doctor had to report my case to the Texas State Department of Health. I was now a statistic. A rare one as only a few dozen cases get reported in Texas and 3,000 in the United States. Worldwide, there are only 500,000 cases reported, yet it is common in many areas of the world that are on the seacoast where people eat fresh fish daily.
Beware of Reef Fish
Ciguatera is a toxin found in reef fish. It is not found in freshwater fish. It was reported as far back as Christopher Columbus’ time when it was first coined as the illness you get from eating sea snails. Cigua=Snail (in Spanish) and Tera=Ground.
It is caused by a micro-organism called a Dinoflagellate. These microscopic organisms, similar to marine plankton, get ingested by small fish. In turn, larger fish will eat the smaller fish and so on up the food chain until humans catch certain types of reef fish to eat. Then it spreads amongst humans.
Not all fish are affected by Dinoflagellates causing Ciguatera. There are no distinguishing differences in color, size, odor or taste. Cooking fish at high temperatures does not kill the Dinoflagellate.
This is why it’s tricky to know if the fresh fish you are eating is contaminated with ciguatera toxin. Beware the next time you decide to eat healthy fresh ocean fish.
I’ve compiled some resources at the end of this article for you to read further on the subject.
Ciguatera Fish Poisoning — Texas, 1997
Ciguatera Fish Poisoning — Texas, 1998, and South Carolina, 2004 | Toxicology | JAMA
Bizarre fish poisoning sparks alarm
Louisiana Fisheries — Fins & Waters
ciguatera poisoning: Topics by WorldWideScience.org
Do you eat fish? Learn about Ciguatera food poisoning