Sounds Fishy: Ciguatera Fish Poisoning Could Make You Feel Like You’re Losing Teeth

If you’re done worrying about salmonella in your peanut butter or avian bird flu all up in your face, here’s something new to freak out over: Ciguatera fish poisoning! Ciguatera is a fish-borne illness that causes more than a few bizarre symptoms in humans.

Health officials are concerned over the lack of awareness regarding this particular food illness, especially since - even though only around 50,000 people report suffering from it each year - the number of actual victims can number in the hundreds of thousands. The illness, which is incurable, is caused by coral algae toxins that accumulate in large tropical reef fish like grouper, sea bass and snapper. 

The symptoms include  diarrhea, vomiting and fatigue, as well as a dangerously slow heart rate, tingling in the hands and feet, reversed experiences of hot and cold, and the sensation that one’s teeth are falling out. Says Donna Shroeder, a 65-year-old who became afflicted with the illness after chowing down on a grouper in a Texas restaurant, “Whatever I touched, if it was hot, it would feel cold. If it was cold, it felt hot,” Schroeder recalled. “I couldn’t walk on the tile floor. It felt like it was burning me.”

Experts say the illness is actually quite common among people who live in or near the Caribbean and have a diet that includes a lot of tropical fish. However, recent cases of the illness have been reported as far as St. Louis after restaurant patrons consumed imported fish. Last month, seafood lovers in Canada fell ill after eating the charmingly-named Leatherjacket fish. Shellfish!

Doctors often initially misdiagnose the symptoms as multiple sclerosis and admit that there are no preventive cooking or preparation measures that can be taken to avoid contracting the illness. There is, however, a three-day slice of time when intravenous doses of a drug called mannitol can reduce or even prevent the neurological symptoms of the illness. 

Those who are afraid of contracting ciguatera are advised to ask from where their fish is imported or simply avoid ordering and eating large reef fish altogether. Bad news for lots of Catholics during Lent, we’re sure. But, really. Did you need yet another reason to avoid ordering the Filet-o-Fish sandwich this Friday?

Bizarre fish poisoning sparks alarm [MSNBC]