"Eating live animals Eating live animals is the practice of humans eating animals that are still alive. It is a traditional practice in many Asian food cultures. Eating live animals, or parts of live animals, may be unlawful in certain jurisdictions under animal cruelty laws. Religious prohibitions on the eating of live animals by humans are also present in various world religions. Animals are also eaten alive for shock value. In Japan, Ikizukuri (""prepared alive"") is the preparation of sashimi (""pierced food"") made from live seafood. The most popular sea animal used in ikizukuri is fish but octopus is the"
"50,000 cases occur a year. Other estimates vary up to 500,000 cases per year. It is the most frequent seafood poisoning. It occurs most commonly in the Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, and the Caribbean Sea between the latitudes of 35°N and 35°S. The risk of the condition appears to be increasing due to coral reef deterioration and increasing trade in seafood. The risk of death from poisoning is less than 1 in 1,000. Descriptions of the condition date back to at least 1511. The current name came into use in 1787. Hallmark symptoms of ciguatera in humans include gastrointestinal, cardiovascular,"
"in otherwise healthy males and females following sexual intercourse with partners suffering ciguatera poisoning, signifying that the toxin may be sexually transmitted. Diarrhea and facial rashes have been reported in breastfed infants of poisoned mothers, suggesting that ciguatera toxins migrate into breast milk. The symptoms can last from weeks to years, and in extreme cases as long as 20 years, often leading to long-term disability. Most people do recover slowly over time. ""Gambierdiscus toxicus"" is the primary dinoflagellate responsible for the production of a number of similar polyether toxins, including ciguatoxin, maitotoxin, gambieric acid and scaritoxin, as well as the"
"Ciguatoxin Ciguatoxins are a class of toxic polycyclic polyethers found in fish that cause ciguatera. There are several different chemicals in this class. ""CTX"" is often used as an abbreviation. Some ciguatoxins lower the threshold for opening voltage-gated sodium channels in synapses of the nervous system. Opening a sodium channel causes depolarization, which could sequentially cause paralysis, heart contraction, and changing the senses of heat and cold. Such poisoning from ciguatoxins is known as ciguatera. Ciguatoxins are lipophillic, able to cross the blood brain barrier, and can cause both central and peripheral neurologic symptoms. The major symptoms will develop within"
"long-chain alcohol palytoxin. Other dinoflagellates that may cause ciguatera include ""Prorocentrum"" spp., ""Ostreopsis"" spp., ""Coolia monotis"", ""Thecadinium"" spp. and ""Amphidinium carterae"". Diagnosis is based on a person's symptoms together with having recently eaten fish. If a number of those who eat the same fish have symptoms the diagnosis becomes more likely. If some of the fish they had previously eaten is available this can also be tested to confirm the diagnosis. Other potential causes such as paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP), neurotoxic shellfish poisoning (NSP), scombrotoxin fish poisoning, and pufferfish poisoning should be excluded. There is no effective treatment or antidote"
"ciguatoxin and maitotoxin. They are originally made by a small marine organism, ""Gambierdiscus toxicus"", that grows on and around coral reefs in tropical and subtropical waters. These are eaten by herbivorous fish which in turn are eaten by larger carnivorous fish. The toxins become more concentrated as they move up the food chain. The fish most often implicated include barracuda, grouper, moray eel, amberjack, sea bass, and sturgeon. Diagnosis is based on a person's symptoms together with having recently eaten fish. If a number of those who eat the same fish develop symptoms the diagnosis becomes more likely. If some"
"die as a result of eating a trunkfish. Ciguatera toxins appear to accumulate in top predators of coral reefs. Many of the Caribbean groupers and the barracuda for example may contain enough of this toxin to cause severe symptoms in humans who eat them. What makes the situation particularly dangerous is that such species may be toxic only at certain sizes or locations, making it difficult to know whether or when they are or are not safe to eat. In some locations this leads to many cases of ciguatera poisoning among tropical islanders. The stargazer buries itself in sand and"
"can become natural reservoirs of certain diseases. While some agents (such as ""Shigella"") only occur in primates, others (such as Giardia) may occur in a wide variety of animals. There are a number of non-infectious causes of inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. Some of the more common include medications (like NSAIDs), certain foods such as lactose (in those who are intolerant), and gluten (in those with celiac disease). Crohn's disease is also a non-infectious source of (often severe) gastroenteritis. Disease secondary to toxins may also occur. Some food-related conditions associated with nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea include: ciguatera poisoning due to"
"visible surface blooms like many other harmful dinoflagellate species (red tides). A decrease in coral reefs due to bleaching, pollution or overfishing usually facilitates the growth of macroalgae, which can cause spreading of this epiphytic dinoflagellate genus. Several ""Gambierdicus"" species produce potent toxin such as ciguatoxin and maitotoxin, which cause ciguatera fish poisoning. Humans often consume the toxins, as herbivorous fish, which feed on macroalgae, ingest the dinoflagellates. Afterwards, carnivorous fish, which are targeted by fishing industries, move the toxins further up the food chain. Ciguatera is the most common form of seafood poisoning caused by harmful algal blooms in"
"of the fish they had previously eaten is available this can also be tested to confirm the diagnosis. Preventive efforts include not eating reef fish, not eating high-risk fish such as barracuda, and not eating fish liver, roe, or fish heads. Ciguatoxin has no taste or smell, and cannot be destroyed by conventional cooking. There is no specific treatment for ciguatera fish poisoning once it occurs. Mannitol may be considered, but the evidence supporting its use is not very strong. Gabapentin or amitriptyline may be used to treat some of the symptoms. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that around"
"Gambierdiscus Gambierdiscus is a genus of marine dinoflagellates that produce ciguatoxins, a type of toxin that causes the foodborne illness known as ciguatera. They are usually epiphytic on macroalgae growing on coral reefs. ""Gambierdiscus"" cells generally have a lenticular shape with a depression on the ventral side of the cell, from where the two dissimilar flagella arise. ""Gambierdiscus"" cells have an orange to brown colour due to the assessory pigments peridinin, diadinoxanthin and dinoxanthin. The marine dinoflagellate genus ""Gambierdiscus"" occurs globally in tropic and subtropic regions. It mainly grows attached to macroalgae and coralline turfalgae. Thus, it does not form"
"non-reef fish at restaurants and retail, can complicate efforts by consumers to avoid ciguatera. Ciguatera was first described by one of the surgeon's mates, William Anderson, on the crew of in 1774. Researchers, such as Ross M. Brown with his New Religion theory suggest that ciguatera outbreaks caused by warm climatic conditions in part propelled the migratory voyages of Polynesians between 1000 and 1400AD. In Northern Australia, where ciguatera is a common problem, two different folk science methods are widely believed to detect whether fish harbor significant ciguatoxin. The first method is that flies are supposed not to land on"
"it can be transmitted up the food chain. A species of duck lives in the swamps and lagoons near Mazatlán. Their meat is said to be poisonous, and eating it has been known to produce symptoms of having been poisoned or drugged. This was long a mystery, but now it is known to be due to ""Datura"" poisoning. The ducks eat the leaves and seeds of ""Datura ceratocaula"", and their flesh contains a toxic level of poison from this diet. Datura ceratocaula Datura ceratocaula is a species of ""Datura"". It is weed-like in its natural habitat, but is grown in"
"histidine which is converted to histamine when bacterial growth occurs during improper storage. Subsequent cooking, smoking, or freezing does not eliminate the histamine. Diagnosis is typically based on the symptoms and may be supported by a normal blood tryptase. If a number of people who eat the same fish develop symptoms the diagnosis is more likely. Prevention is by refrigerating or freezing fish right after it is caught. Treatment is generally with antihistamines such as diphenhydramine and ranitidine. Epinephrine may be used for severe symptoms. Along with ciguatera fish poisoning, it is one of the most common type of seafood"
"to changes in environmental conditions like nutrient concentrations and sea surface temperature. An increase in sea surface temperature in the future might cause spreading of ""Gambierdiscus"" species further towards the poles and result in more cases of ciguatera fish poisoning. The genus ""Gambierdiscus"" contains the following species: Gambierdiscus Gambierdiscus is a genus of marine dinoflagellates that produce ciguatoxins, a type of toxin that causes the foodborne illness known as ciguatera. They are usually epiphytic on macroalgae growing on coral reefs. ""Gambierdiscus"" cells generally have a lenticular shape with a depression on the ventral side of the cell, from where the"
"1-3 hours of toxin ingestion: vomiting, diarrhea, numbness of extremities, mouth and lips, reversal of hot and cold sensation, muscle and joint aches. The symptoms may last from days to weeks or even months depending on each individual situation. There is no known antidote, though several therapeutic targets have been identified. Ciguatoxin is produced by ""Gambierdiscus toxicus"", a type of dinoflagellate. The toxin usually accumulates in the skin, head, viscera, and roe of big reef fish like grouper, wrasse, triggerfish, lionfish, and amberjack. Ciguatoxin cannot be destroyed by cooking. Rapid testing for this toxin in food is not standard. Ciguatoxin"
"for ciguatera poisoning. The mainstay of treatment is supportive care. There is some evidence that calcium channel blockers like nifedipine and verapamil are effective in treating some of the symptoms that remain after the initial sickness passes, such as poor circulation and shooting pains through the chest. These symptoms are due to vasoconstriction caused by maitotoxin. Ciguatoxin lowers the threshold for opening voltage-gated sodium channels in synapses of the nervous system. Opening a sodium channel causes depolarization, which could sequentially cause paralysis, heart contraction, and changing the senses of hot and cold. Some medications such as amitriptyline may reduce some"
"the ciguatoxins from their sites of action, as well as being an anti-inflammatory. An account of ciguatera poisoning from a linguistics researcher living on Malakula island, Vanuatu, indicates the local treatment: ""We had to go with what local people told us: avoid salt and any seafood. Eat sugary foods. And they gave us a tea made from the roots of ferns growing on tree trunks. I don't know if any of that helped, but after a few weeks, the symptoms faded away"". Various Caribbean folk and ritualistic treatments originated in Cuba and nearby islands. The most common old-time remedy involves"
"illness. Other symptoms caused by these aerosols included fever associated with serious respiratory disturbances, such as bronchoconstriction, mild dyspnea, and wheezes, while conjunctivitis was observed in some cases. Clupeotoxism, poisoning after consuming clupeoid fish, is also suggested to be caused by palytoxin. Neurological and gastrointestinal disturbances are associated with clupeotoxism. Haff disease might be related to palytoxin and is characterized by rhabdomyolysis and gastrointestinal problems. In addition to ciguatoxin, palytoxin could be related to ciguatera seafood poisoning in some cases and thus give rise to a number of symptoms in this poisoning. There is no antidote for palytoxin. Only the"
"and neurological effects. Gastrointestinal symptoms include nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, usually followed by neurological symptoms such as headaches, muscle aches, paresthesia, numbness of extremities, mouth and lips, reversal of hot and cold sensation, ataxia, vertigo, and hallucinations. Severe cases of ciguatera can also result in cold allodynia, which is a burning sensation on contact with cold. Neurological symptoms can persist and ciguatera poisoning is occasionally misdiagnosed as multiple sclerosis. Cardiovascular symptoms include bradycardia, tachycardia, hypotension, hypertension, orthostatic tachycardia, exercise intolerance, and rhythm disorders. Death from the condition can occur, but is very rare. Dyspareunia and other ciguatera symptoms have developed"
"Cicutoxin Cicutoxin is a naturally-occurring poisonous chemical compound produced by several plants from the Apiaceae family including water hemlock (""Cicuta"" species) and water dropwort (""Oenanthe crocata""). The compound contains polyene, polyyne, and alcohol functional groups and is a structural isomer of oenanthotoxin, also found in water dropwort. Both of these belong to the C-polyacetylenes chemical class. It causes death by respiratory paralysis resulting from disruption of the central nervous system. It is a potent, noncompetitive antagonist of the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptor. In humans, cicutoxin rapidly produces symptoms of nausea, emesis and abdominal pain, typically within 60 minutes of ingestion."
"Infection begins when cyst-covered aquatic vegetation is eaten or when water containing metacercariae is drunk. In the United Kingdom, ""F. hepatica"" frequently causes disease in ruminants, most commonly between March and December. Humans become infected by eating watercress or by drinking 'Emoliente', a Peruvian drink that uses drops of watercress juice. Cattle and sheep are infected when they consume the infectious stage of the parasite from low-lying, marshy pasture. Human infections have been reported from more than 75 countries around the world. In Asia and Africa, people are infected both by ""F. hepatica"" and ""F. gigantica"" whereas human fasciolosis is"
"occasionally makes its way into the aquarium trade. Striated surgeonfish The striated surgeonfish, ""Ctenochaetus striatus"", is a species of marine fish in the family Acanthuridae. The striated surgeonfish can reach a maximum size of 24 cm in length, but its common size is observed to be around 18 cm. The striated surgeonfish is one of the few herbivorous fishes which are occasionally toxic. Ciguatera poisoning is caused by the accumulation of a toxin produced by certain microscopic dinoflagellates which it ingests while feeding on algae. If a contaminated fish is eaten by humans, the concentrated poison contained within its tissues"
"for meat and fins. As a predator, though, the shark can accumulate ciguatera toxins produced by dinoflagellates within its tissues. In November 1993, some 500 people in Manakara, Madagascar, were poisoned, 98 of them fatally, after eating meat from a pigeye shark. This was the first recorded mass ciguatera outbreak caused by a shark, as well as the first with a significant death toll. The IUCN has listed the pigeye shark overall as Data Deficient, while noting that its rarity may render it susceptible to overfishing. In KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, small numbers of pigeye sharks are caught in shark nets"
"Easter, which proved highly successful to decrease the invasive fish problem. When properly filleted, the naturally venomous fish is safe to eat. There has been some concern about the risk of ciguatera food poisoning (CFP) from consumption of lionfish, and the FDA included lionfish on the list of species at risk for CFP when lionfish are harvested in some areas tested positive for ciguatera. However, there have been no verified cases of CFP from consumption of lionfish, and published research has found that the toxins in lionfish venom may be causing false positives in tests for presence of ciguatera. The"
"and adults. However, the crops of the adult moths contain cyanogenic chemicals in extremely low quantities along with high concentrations of sugar, making ""Zygaena"" a convenient supplementary source of sugar during the early summer. The moths are very common and easy to catch by hand, and the low cyanogenic content makes ""Zygaena"" a minimally risky seasonal delicacy. Cases of lead poisoning after consumption of chapulines were reported by the California Department of Health Services in November 2003. Adverse allergic reactions are also a possible hazard. The Food and Agriculture Organization has displayed an interest in developing entomophagy on multiple occasions."
"confounding factors. Citrinin is a toxin that was first isolated from ""Penicillium citrinum"", but has been identified in over a dozen species of ""Penicillium"" and several species of ""Aspergillus"". Some of these species are used to produce human foodstuffs such as cheese (""Penicillium camemberti""), sake, miso, and soy sauce (""Aspergillus oryzae""). Citrinin is associated with yellowed rice disease in Japan and acts as a nephrotoxin in all animal species tested. Although it is associated with many human foods (wheat, rice, corn, barley, oats, rye, and food colored with Monascus pigment) its full significance for human health is unknown. Citrinin can"
"some kind of food poisoning, with contaminated fish and shellfish being the prime suspects. On November 4, the research group announced its initial findings: ""Minamata disease is rather considered to be poisoning by a heavy metal, presumably it enters the human body mainly through fish and shellfish."" As soon as the investigation identified a heavy metal as the causal substance, the wastewater from the Chisso plant was immediately suspected as the origin. The company's own tests revealed that its wastewater contained many heavy metals in concentrations sufficiently high to bring about serious environmental degradation, including lead, mercury, manganese, arsenic, thallium,"
"meters. Its range includes the Western Atlantic, Florida, Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean down to Brazil. The fish travels in schools with the smaller French grunt (""H. flavolineatum""), a close relative. Up to 1,000 grunts can form a school. The schools generally cruise near coral. The diet consists mainly of shrimp. It may also eat annelids, bivalves, and crustaceans. Predators of the grunt are larger piscivorous fish, such as sharks. The blue striped grunt is edible, and when caught, is marketed fresh. It is only of minor commercial importance, however. There have been reports of ciguatera poisoning from consumption"
"can also temporarily monopolize aquatic ecosystems when they form dense, floating mats in the water. Ingestion of ""Lyngbya"" is potentially lethal. Most commonly poisoning is caused by eating fish which have fed on ""Lyngbya"" or on other fish which have done so. This is called ciguatera poisoning. Lyngbya Lyngbya is a genus of cyanobacteria, unicellular autotrophs that form the basis of the oceanic food chain. As a result of recent genetic analyses, several new genera was erected from this genus: ""e.g."", ""Moorea"", ""Limnoraphis"", ""Okeania"", ""Microseira"", and ""Dapis"". ""Lyngbya"" species form long, unbranching filaments inside a rigid mucilagenous sheath. Sheaths may"
"Gambierol Gambierol is a marine polycyclic ether toxin which is produced by the dinoflagellate ""Gambierdiscus toxicus"". Gambierol is collected from the sea at the Rangiroa Peninsula in French Polynesia. The toxins are accumulated in fish through the food chain and can therefore cause human intoxication. The symptoms of the toxicity resemble those of ciguatoxins, which are extremely potent neurotoxins that bind to voltage-sensitive sodium channels and alter their function. These ciguatoxins cause ciguatera fish poisoning. Because of the resemblance, there is a possibility that gambierol is also responsible for ciguatera fish poisoning. Because the natural source of gambierol is limited,"
"GABA receptor causing a block of the chloride channel which results in neuronal depolarization. In the presence of cicutoxin this depolarization continues unabated causing cell overactivity. The hyperactivity in brain cells results in seizures. Cicutoxin is highly poisonous and water hemlock is considered one of North America's most toxic plants. Ingestion of ""Cicuta"" can be fatal in humans and there are reports in the medical literature of severe poisoning and death as early as 1670. A number of people have also died following ingestion of the plant in the 20th and 21st century. The in mice administered cicutoxin by intraperitoneal"
"of ciguatera poisoning have been reported from the species. Detailed tests on a large (1 m) specimen taken from Palmyra Island showed the toxicity of the fish's flesh, liver and washed intestinal tract produced no or weakly positive symptoms to laboratory mice, but the digested contents of the intestine were lethal. The authors argued, based on this test, the flesh of giant trevally was safe to consume. However, analysis of case studies in which ciguatera poisoning was reported after eating the fish suggested an accumulative effect occurs with repeated consumption; and tests like the one outlined above are not reliable,"