The Washington Times
  • Subscribe
  • Times News Services
  • RSS
  • Mobile Headlines
  • e-edition
  • E-MAIL ALERTS
  • REGISTER
  • LOG IN
  • E-MAIL ALERTS
  • WELCOME
  • Your Profile
  • Log Out
  • Front Page Image
  • Classifieds
  • Autos
  • Real Estate
  • Jobs
  • Special Sections
  • Customer Service
  • Home
  • News
  • Opinion
  • Sports
    • NFL
    • NBA/WNBA
    • MLB
    • NHL
    • Tennis
    • Golf
    • Motorsports
    • Soccer
    • NCAA
    • Olympics
    • Outdoors
    • Other
  • Culture
    • Home & Living
    • Family & Kids
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Travel
    • Health
    • Washington Visitors
    • Books
    • Military History
    • Life
    • Auto
    • TV Listings
    • Movie Listings
    • Death Notices
    • Entertainment
  • Themes
  • Communities
  • Shopping
    • Stores
    • Coupons
    • Daily Double
    • Promotion
    • How It Works
  • Videos
    • Two Guys
    • Birnbaum on Washington
    • Liz Glover
    • Amanda Carpenter
    • Morning Briefing
    • Documentaries
    • Joe Giganti
    • Video Game Minute
  • Podcasts
    • About Headlines
    • Audio and Radio
    • America's Morning News
  • Politics

    CURL: West Point is site of historic Vietnam speech

  • Politics

    Climate 'czar' says hacked e-mails don't change anything

  • Food

    Obama pardons 'Courage,' the Thanksgiving turkey

  • Politics

    Obama to outline war plan at West Point

  • Politics

    Obama to attend Denmark climate summit

  • Business

    Initial jobless claims lowest in about year

  • National

    PULLEN: GOP came unmoored in last decade – it hurt

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Popularity of reef fish spreads poisoning risk

Rate this story

Average 0.00
after 0 votes
Login or register to rate this story

  • Font Size -+
  • Print
  • Email
  • Comment
  • Tweet this!
  • Share
  • Article
  • Comments ()
  • Click-2-Listen
  • Videos

More Stories

  • Obama to outline war plan at West Point
  • Obama expects support for more troops
  • D.C. sports icon, Wizards owner Pollin dies
  • Leonsis in line to buy Wizards, Verizon

By

ILOILO, Philippines

Bowls of piping-hot barracuda soup were the much-anticipated treat when the Roa family gathered for a casual and relaxing Sunday meal.

Within hours, all six felt deathly ill. So did two dozen others from the same neighborhood. Some complained of bodywide numbness. Others felt weakness in their legs. Several couldn't speak or even open their mouths.

"I was scared. I really thought I was going to die," said Dabby Roa, 21, a student who suffered numbness in his head, tingling in his hands and had trouble breathing. What Mr. Roa and the others suffered that night in August was ciguatera fish poisoning, a rarely fatal but growing menace from eating exotic fish. All had bought portions of the same barracuda from a vendor.

An estimated 50,000 people worldwide suffer ciguatera poisoning each year, though more than 90 percent of cases go unreported. Scientists say the risks are getting worse, because of damage that pollution and global warming inflict on the coral reefs where many fish species feed.

Dozens of popular fish types, including grouper and barracuda, live near reefs. They accumulate the toxic chemical in their bodies from eating smaller fish that graze on the poisonous algae. When oceans are warmed by the greenhouse effect and fouled by toxic runoff, coral reefs are damaged and poison algae thrives, the scientists say.

"Worldwide, we have a much bigger problem with toxins from algae in seafood than we had 20 or 30 years ago," said Donald M. Anderson, director of the Coastal Ocean Institute at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts.

"We have more toxins, more species of algae producing the toxins and more areas affected around the world," he said.

Homer cited ailment

Although risk of ciguatera poisoning has soared recently, the phenomenon is ancient. Fish poisoning shows up in Homer's "Odyssey," written some 800 years before the Christian era. Alexander the Great forbade his armies to eat fish for fear of being stricken, according to Yoshitsugi Hokama, a professor at the University of Hawaii.

123Next »

Post a comment

There are comments on this article, submit your opinion!

Commenting is disabled for this entry.
If you feel there is still something worth mentioning about this entry please contact the author or the site admin.

Ask a Question

You Report

Do you have another point of view, photos, audio, video or more information about a story?

Top Stories

Most Read

  1. EDITORIAL: Hiding evidence of global cooling
  2. Top Republican lawmakers not attending State Dinner
  3. Fenty trails Gray in D.C. poll
  4. Conservatives seek test for RNC funds
  5. Food snobs fork over $225 for taste of heritage turkey
More Top Stories »
  1. Religious leaders vow civil disobedience on anti-life issues
  2. PRUDEN: Obama's due process doctrine
  3. Company that repaired Chairman Gray's house lacked license
  4. KELLNER: New Apple mouse really is 'Magic'
  5. List of W.H. state dinner guests

Most Shared

  1. EDITORIAL: Hiding evidence of global cooling
  2. EDITORIAL: Obama's sacked inspector general
  3. The United Socialist States of America
  4. EDITORIAL: Kennedy vs. Catholicism
  5. EDITORIAL: Terrorists use Democratic talking points
More Top Stories »
  1. 'Boutique' patients pay for better access to doctors
  2. Food snobs fork over $225 for taste of heritage turkey
  3. PULLEN: GOP came unmoored in last decade – it hurt
  4. Fenty trails Gray in D.C. poll
  5. Climate 'czar' says hacked e-mails don't change anything

Most Commented

  1. EDITORIAL: Hiding evidence of global cooling
  2. Top Republican lawmakers not attending State Dinner
  3. Conservatives seek test for RNC funds
  4. PRUDEN: Obama's due process doctrine
  5. Climate 'czar' says hacked e-mails don't change anything
More Top Stories »
  1. EDITORIAL: Terrorists use Democratic talking points
  2. A-listers, fundraisers at W.H. state dinner
  3. Ky. hanging, ruled a suicide, leaves bloggers at loss for words
  4. EDITORIAL: Obama's sacked inspector general
  5. WH: Obama Afghan decision 'within days'

Listen to Washington Times Radio

  • America's Morning News

    with John McCaslin and Melanie Morgan

Blogs & Columns

  • Hot Button Blog

    RNC: Breast cancer recommendations may lead to 'rationing'

  • Belief Blog

    Evangelicals OK civil disobedience

  • Out of Context

    Foods that might kill libido

  • On the Fly

    United lifts some 'award' blocking

  • Technology

    Facebook wins round against phishing spammer

  • Redskins 360

    Gray coy about job

  • SNOBlog

    Beyond 'Woody'

Videos

Advertising Links
TWT Store
  • e-edition
  • Print Edition
  • Weekly Washington Times
TWT Affiliates
  • Middle East Times
  • Golf
  • UPI
  • Arbor Ballroom
  • Washington Times Global
  • About TWT
  • Press Room
  • F.A.Q.
  • Work for TWT
  • Advertise
  • Sponsors
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Site Map

All site contents © Copyright 2009 The Washington Times, LLC.