Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2011 Dec;5(12):e1416.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0001416. Epub 2011 Dec 13.

Ciguatera fish poisoning in the Pacific Islands (1998 to 2008)

Mark P Skinner  1 , Tom D Brewer, Ron Johnstone, Lora E Fleming, Richard J Lewis
Affiliations

Ciguatera fish poisoning in the Pacific Islands (1998 to 2008)

Mark P Skinner et al. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2011 Dec.

Abstract

Background: Ciguatera is a type of fish poisoning that occurs throughout the tropics, particularly in vulnerable island communities such as the developing Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs). After consuming ciguatoxin-contaminated fish, people report a range of acute neurologic, gastrointestinal, and cardiac symptoms, with some experiencing chronic neurologic symptoms lasting weeks to months. Unfortunately, the true extent of illness and its impact on human communities and ecosystem health are still poorly understood.

Methods: A questionnaire was emailed to the Health and Fisheries Authorities of the PICTs to quantify the extent of ciguatera. The data were analyzed using t-test, incidence rate ratios, ranked correlation, and regression analysis.

Results: There were 39,677 reported cases from 17 PICTs, with a mean annual incidence of 194 cases per 100,000 people across the region from 1998-2008 compared to the reported annual incidence of 104/100,000 from 1973-1983. There has been a 60% increase in the annual incidence of ciguatera between the two time periods based on PICTs that reported for both time periods. Taking into account under-reporting, in the last 35 years an estimated 500,000 Pacific islanders might have suffered from ciguatera.

Conclusions: This level of incidence exceeds prior ciguatera estimates locally and globally, and raises the status of ciguatera to an acute and chronic illness with major public health significance. To address this significant public health problem, which is expected to increase in parallel with environmental change, well-funded multidisciplinary research teams are needed to translate research advances into practical management solutions.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Annual incidence of ciguatera in the Pacific.
Mean annual incidence (per 100,000 people) of ciguatera across Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICT) from 1973–2008 are reported. Hawaii, North Marianas, Marshall Islands and Palau were omitted because comparable data was not available for both time periods.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Lehane L, Lewis RJ. Ciguatera: recent advances but the risk remains. Int J Food Microb. 2000;61:91–125. - PubMed
    1. Friedman MA, Fleming LE, Fernandez M, Bienfang P, Schrank K, et al. Ciguatera Fish poisoning: treatment, prevention and management. Marine Drugs (Special Issue on Marine Toxins) 2008;6:456–479. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lewis RJ. Socioeconomic impacts and management of ciguatera in the Pacific. Bull Soc Path Exot. 1992;85:427–434. - PubMed
    1. Tester PA, Feldman RL, Nau AW, Kibler SR, Litaker RW. Ciguatera fish poisoning and sea surface temperatures in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. Toxicon. 2010;56:698–710. - PubMed
    1. Rongo T, van Woesik R. Ciguatera poisoning in Rarotonga, southern Cook Islands. Harmful Algae. 2010;10:345–355. - PubMed

Publication types