Science probes the mystery

of seafood poisoning

Sea food poisoning the scourge of many Pacific islands is less of a mystery now than it was, thanks to research by a team of scientists.

New Zealand volunteer Dominic McCarthy with his Kiri bati counterpart Temakei Teba no have helped the scientific community come close to a breakthrough after their study of ciguatoxic fish poisoning.

In co-operation with USP and the University of Hawaii, the microscopic single cell algae which cause the poisoning were collected for examination.

The Kiribati team collected the organism from fish caught in the atolls, and were able to give the Hawaii scientists a regular supply of the algae.

The Hawaii researchers, as a result, are close to identifying the chemical characteristics of the ciguatoxin molecule.

The two Kiribati scientists, in fact, became the world’s major supplier at that time. Even though it meant storing boxes of fish in ice and flying them

from Tarawa to Hawaii. With sparse ice making facilities, it was no easy task.

However, as far as the Hawaii researchers were con cerned, it was batter than the previous method of collection taking samples from re staurants in Japan or France.

Fish poisoning can be fatal but is more often debilitating and painful with a lengthy re covery period.

Thousands of Pacific fisher men are struck down each year, with Kiribati and Tokelau suffering the highest incidence in the region.

McCarthy and Tebano sur veyed all 16 islands in the Gilberts group, the former Brit ish colony, to establish the distribution of toxic fish and gain historical information on the existence of the poison in different islands.

They found the toxin in 14 of the 16 islands surveyed.

Once ciguatoxin enters the food chain it can stay there for years. McCarthy recalled re

search over 25 years ago that found the organism in decline.

The latest information finds, however, that nothing has changed.

Island notions that the dis ease is seasonal can be dis counted, says McCarthy. This appears to occur only because the fish that carry the organism may be seasonal visitors.

Ciguatoxic fish poisoning can be very localised. One side of a small atoll can be toxic with a beach 500 metres or so away free of symptoms.

And an area previously thought toxin free can suddenly have the organism turn up.

One test for fish poisoning is to feed suspect fish to a cat and then closely monitor the reac tion for three hours. The cat will be unharmed but will simply regurgitate any infected fish.

While none of the resear chers have yet found a “cure” the work is continuing, thanks to the dedication of the Kiribati team.