#2704: Fish poisonings (fwd)

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From: Paul Dyment <pdyment@hotmail.com>

Bob  --  There have been several questions about fish poisoning in Haiti in 
these postings. Some of your readers will be interested in the experience of 
some U.S. soldiers poisoned this way in 1995, & which appeared in the 
journal TOXICON 1997 May;35(5):733-41 , from which the following is quoted. 
--
     "On 24 February 1995, six U.S.soldiers serving with the Multinational 
Force in Haiti became ill after eating a locally caught fish identified as 
the greater amberjack Seriola dumeril. The victims presented with nausea, 
vomiting, watery diarrhoea and abdominal cramps 5 - 8 hours after 
consumption. Also present in some victims were numbness in the extremities 
or perioral region, bradycardia (slow heart rate ), and scalp peresthesia ( 
tingling & numbness ). Patients were treated with i.v.hydration and 
antiemetics. All recovered without sequelae over the course of 1 - 3 
months.... A portion of the fish was available for analysis....The presence 
of the major Caribbean ciguatoxin(C-CTX-1) was confirmed by liquid 
chromatography-mass spectrometry. )"

Paul G. Dyment M.D.
29 Pond Shore Drive
Cumberland,  ME  04021
phone/fax  207 829 5725

______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com