Ciguatera: the detection of neurotoxins in carnivorous reef fish from the coast of Cameroon, West Africa

A simple model capable of simulating the population dynamics of Gambierdiscus, the benthic dinoflagellate responsible for ciguatera fish poisoning

“…The sample remaining in the graduated cylinder was transferred into a 250 ml HDPE bottle for toxin analysis using the Na-channel specific neuroblastoma bioassay (Manger et al, 1993(Manger et al, , 1995Dickey et al, 1999) following procedures outlined in Bienfang et al (2008). An aliquot (approximately 1 ml) from the preserved subsample was filtered through a 13 mm, 8 mm polycarbonate filter (Whatman Nucleopore 1 ), stained with diethanol (Uvitex 2B; Polysciences), semi-permanently mounted onto a slide with immersion oil (Murphy and Haugen, 1985;Shapiro et al, 1989), and enumerated using an Olympus BX51 epifluorescence microscope fitted with a DAPI filter.…”

Harmful algal blooms and public health

“…This includes the Caribbean, southern Florida, Hawaii, the South pacific and Australia. However, emerging data suggests expansion of the biogeographical range ciguatoxic fish (Villareal et al, 2007; Bienfang et al, 2008; Dickey and Plakas, 2010) with reports of CFP from fish originating in South Carolina and the Northwestern Gulf of Mexico (CDC, 2006). …”

Presumptive Case of Ciguatera Fish Poisoning in Mangalore, India

“…CFP outbreaks outside of endemic areas have been attributed to consumption of imported toxic fish 6 and expanding biogeographical range of Gamberdiscus spp. and ciguatoxic fish 7,8 . CFP symptoms vary with the regional origin of the toxin 9 and occur within 0.5-12 h of toxic fish consumption 10 .…”