They estimate that on the QLD coast the prevalence is 3 people per 10.000 of population and they estimate this figure is underreported showing only 20% of the actual figure.
So if you're in a coastal QLD town of 300,000 people this would affect an estimated 450 people annually!! Now tell me how many would have heard of the poison before they got sick!
Hey Guys,
My wife has now started back eating slowly. We are suffering severe itching, headaches and leg pain, general weakness and some breathing difficulty. Also the senses reversal it very evident, not so much with heat but merly washing hands or holding a can of drink even swallowing a cold drink is felt as more a freezer burn than a hot burn.
My wife ended up taking the dog to the vet at midnight last night and the vet says she is suffering the exact same symptoms as us.
Garry
Garry
Retired Honda Master Tech
Hey Garry,
All the best for a speedy recovery as it doesn't sound like you and your family are having much fun lately.
Keep us updated. Interesting info about the dog having the same syptoms...
Cheers Tony_P
A few years ago the price per kilo of spanish mackeral was changed, fish over 10kg (or there abouts) became a lot less #than fish under 10kg. For a while there was talk that the buyers would not accept fish over 10kg at all.
To get the precise details on that you would have to talk to one of the mackeral pro's, but it was something like that.
There has been a few incidents around here with people eating barracuda.
It would seem that these are one of the very worst culprits for it. About 5-6 years ago someone caught a large barracuda and gave it to some tourists in one of the caravan parks. I think about 4-5 people copped it and the story was that they had called the ambulance during the night and one person was located under a tree in a very bad way, another found lying on the floor of the toilet block,also in a very bad way.
In the same respect, hundreds and hundreds of mackeral are caught and eaten in this area every year, with no apparent ill effects.
I guess it is a game of russian roulette, I for one no longer choose to play!!
Here are some interesting statistics published in 1979,in 3009 cases:
Sign or symptom: .and percentage of patients with findings.
Numbness and tingling of hands...............................89.2
Numbness around mouth..........................................89. 1
burning or pain to skin on contact with cold water....87.6
joint pain.............................................. ......................85.7
muscle pain.............................................. ..................81.5
diahorea.......................................... ...........................70.6
weakness.......................................... .........................60.0
headache.......................................... ..........................59.2
chills............................................ ................................59.0
abdominal pain.............................................. ..............46.5
itchy skin.............................................. .......................44.9
nausea............................................ ............................42.9
dizziness......................................... ............................42.3
difficulty walking........................................... ...............37.7
vomiting.......................................... ............................37.5
sweating.......................................... ...........................36.7
shaking........................................... ............................26.8
dental pain.............................................. ....................24.8
neck stiffness......................................... .....................24.2
watery eyes.............................................. ..................22.4
skin rash.............................................. .......................20.5
pain on urination......................................... ...............18.7
salivation........................................ ............................18.7
shortness of breath............................................ ........16.1
low blood pressure.......................................... ...........12.2
inability to move arms or legs.....................................10.5
Regards, Tony
PS apoligies for the scrambled typing# #
Originally Posted by agnes_jack
I'm with you! This is some scarey stuff to say the least! I had never even heard of ciguatera until reading this thread. Not good at all!
Get well Spaniard_King and family. You guys are in my and my families' thoughts and prayers.
If nothing else, at least the word is getting out more about it. It stinks that you're going through this but maybe by telling your story, you will help prevent others from getting it.
Get well and be safe everybody!
EC
"When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands explained.-- Mark Twain"
Hey SK and family
Sorry to hear of your illness, I hope you have a full and speedy recovery
kind regards and a happy Easter
rando
Hope you all are on the road to recovery. I have probably consumed hundreds of spanish mackeral in my life and have had no symptoms( touch wood). Have eaten a few over 30kgs gulp! As far as I know wahoo are not commonly caught on the reefs like spanish and they usually eat fish further out to sea so do not have ciga in them. It has more to do with the age of the fish than the size. Red bass are very slow growing fish so the number of small fish they consume with the toxin is huge. I have heard that reefs with a lot of dead coral are more prone to the toxin ie coral sea reefs, as the algae grows on the dead coral and in turn eaten by small fish and so on. Curious to know if the breaksea spit could contribute to the cases in hervey bay as this spit contains a lot of dead coral. Has any tagging research been done on the spanish in hervey bay to see if they come down the coast?
Once again wish you guys all the best.
Thank you for your thoughts
just a quick update guys.
My missus had to be hospitalised again today with a gall blader infection which the doc has put down to the Cigatera, she has a couple of small stones but nuthing serious. They are feeding her mass dosages of antibiotics by drip and hopefully be home Sunday.
Just would like to clear up a few things. We had 2 kids from different families staying with us on the night we ate the suspect fish, these kids are not big fish eaters and suffered just as much as we are. I feel we have all taken a significant dose of Ciguatera as a DPI member has told me most cases take 24hours to show up. make your own conclusions.
Yes we are all still suffering
Garry
Garry
Retired Honda Master Tech
Sounds like you coped the mother load in one hit,not good mate,hope things get better real quick for you and yours.
Garry,
Sorry to hear about all the problems you and your family are having. Missed checking this thread until just now. A pity that such an interesting thread came from your misfortune.
A few years back I had a severe dose of food poisoning from a dodgy steak in Sri Lanka (not cig obviously) and can have a fair guess at what you must be going through. Knocked me over for 3 days.
Hope you all get better soon.
In the meantime, not sure if you have heard of the BART rule for getting over intestinal upsets. Bananas, Apples, Rice (plain white steamed), Toast (dry) is apparently what will stay in your stomach - according to a Gold Coast doc that was sorting out my sister's kids a few years back. Seems to work the few times I've needed to try it. Might help get some nutrition back into you and the family.
Cheers
Jeff
PS Bummer about the booze.
G'day Jeff!!
Havn't heard much of ya for a while,
All the best for easter to you and yours mate!!
Regards, Tony
Cheers Tony,
All the best to you, Sandi and Josh as well mate.
I've been doing more looking than typing for quite a while, but still around drooling over the Agnes fish reports.
Jeff
sorry to hear about it mate
Just caught up fully with this thread now, pretty full on!!
Garry- have you contacted any of the news/current affair programs as i think they (and most of the general public) would be interested in your story as a public awareness thing. I know us as fisherman know a little about cig (as far as species and where it comes from) but i dare say 95% of average people who buy fish from the local seafood shop know very little, or nothing about it.
worth a thought, could save a few others from going through what you have?
Have to be awful big dose for you to all cop it, I reckon more likely the fish simply went off on you. What you got was a simple dose of food poisoning, like salmonela . (not that it feels all that simple!) Its classic symptoms are sitting on the toilet with a bucker between your knees because you dont have time to get up and change ends, violent onset, over in about 6 to 12 hours.
"Ciga" is a slow build up toxic poison, that builds up in the system, that takes for ever to get over, then it only takes another small amount to set it all off again. Had an uncle that his initial bout lasted weeks, then occassionally for years after that when he got into the reef fish, back it would come. Although Mackeral are suposed to be natorious for it, the symptoms and spread dont point to it.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
