Toxic fish spark health probe
Authorities are trying to establish the origins of coral garoupa which have poisoned 30 people
Health authorities were last night investigating the origins of toxic coral fish which have poisoned 30 people in the past three days.
Fourteen of the victims remained in hospital last night. All were in a stable condition.
There were seven separate clusters of ciguatera poisoning, which is linked to the ciguatoxin found in some large reef fish.
A spokesman for the Department of Health said the victims developed symptoms of ciguatoxin poisoning after eating areolated coral garoupa and leopard coral garoupa between Friday and yesterday.
In one case, six men and three women, aged 31 to 42, fell ill after eating fish at a wedding banquet at a restaurant in Kowloon East.
'We inspected the restaurant and traced the source to a fish market stall. We also have taken samples from the restaurant. We are still assisting the Department of Health in their investigation,' a spokesman for the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department said.
She said the poisoned fish might have been supplied by two or three different vendors.
Another case involved fish bought and consumed in Shenzhen. Two men and three women, aged 25 to 74, ate the fish across the border and fell ill when they came back to Hong Kong. One of them sought treatment at Prince of Wales Hospital.
The rest of the cases involved fish which were bought at wet markets in Shek Wu Hoi, Sha Tin, North Point and Wong Tai Sin, and then cooked at the homes of the victims. Cooking does not destroy the toxin.
The Department of Health said ciguatera fish poisoning was common in tropical areas.
'This is mainly associated with the consumption of big coral reef fish which have accumulated the toxin in their bodies, in particular the internal organs, through eating small fish that consume toxic algae in coral reef seas,' a spokesman said.
He said it was difficult to tell from the appearance of a fish if it was toxic.
Sixteen ciguatera poisoning incidents involving 77 people were reported in January and February. Last year, there were five incidents involving 25 people.
Symptoms of ciguatera poisoning include numbness of the mouth and the limbs, vomiting, diarrhoea and pain in the joints and muscles.
Most victims recover without long-term health effects. However, if a large amount of the toxin is ingested, the circulatory and nervous systems can be damaged.
The department said diners should avoid eating large coral reef fish, especially their internal organs which can accumulate the poison. Alcohol and nuts can worsen the symptoms.
The weekend poisonings were the worst ciguatera incidents since August 2001 when 20 people fell ill over a period of four days.
