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Marine Biotoxins: Symptoms and Monitoring Programs
Published in Hafiz Ansar Rasul Suleria, Megh R. Goyal, Health Benefits of Secondary Phytocompounds from Plant and Marine Sources, 2021
Huma Bader Ul Ain, Farhan Saeed, Hafiza Sidra Yaseen, Tabussam Tufail, Hafiz Ansar Rasul Suleria
The main symptoms of neurotoxic shellfish poisoning are: low blood pressure, numbness of extremities, dilation of pupil, muscle spasm nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, inebriation feel, dizziness, respiratory problems including apnea and ataxia. The severity of symptoms is low.
Clinical Toxicology of Shellfish Poisoning
Published in Jürg Meier, Julian White, Handbook of: Clinical Toxicology of Animal Venoms and Poisons, 2017
Table 2 summarises the marine plankton linked with toxic shellfish poisoning. The species are predominantly dinoflagellate and the only exception is the diatom Nitzschia pungens. All types of shellfish poisoning will be covered in greater detail later; however, several common features are worthy of note. Firstly, the toxins produced by the dinoflagellates and diatoms are heat stable and not destroyed by cooking. When there are large numbers of the organisms in the water during an algal “bloom” their toxins rapidly accumulate in shellfish during filter feeding. The toxins appear to have very little effect on the host shellfish, despite being very toxic to other fish and animals higher in the food chain. Toxic shellfish poisoning occurs when humans ingest affected shellfish. The shellfish are usually bivalved molluscs (i.e. mussels, clams, oysters, scallops and cockles), although other molluscs such as chitons, murex and limpets have caused human illness in addition to sand crabs, horseshoe crabs and reef crabs10.
Water-based disease and microbial growth *
Published in Jamie Bartram, Rachel Baum, Peter A. Coclanis, David M. Gute, David Kay, Stéphanie McFadyen, Katherine Pond, William Robertson, Michael J. Rouse, Routledge Handbook of Water and Health, 2015
Charles P. Gerba, Gordon L. Nichols
These organisms grow in marine, coastal and estuarine waters and produce a range of potent toxins, often in mixtures. They occur predominantly in saltwater and, under the right conditions, can produce harmful algal blooms (HABs) that can cause toxic effects in fish and other sea-life as well as humans. The organisms and their potent natural toxins can accumulate within shellfish, causing paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP; caused by Alexandrium spp.), diarrheic shellfish poisoning (DSP; caused by Dinophysis spp. and Procentrum spp.), neurotoxic shellfish poisoning (NSP; caused by Karenia spp.), azaspiracid shellfish poisoning (AZP; caused by Protoperidinium crassipes) and amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP; caused by Pseudo-nitzschia spp.). Some of the toxins (produced by Gambierdiscus spp. and Gonyaulax tamarense) can also accumulate by passing up the food chain to contaminate large reef fish (e.g. barracuda) that are rendered toxic (e.g. ciguatera toxins and brevitoxins). Some of these toxins (e.g. brevetoxins associated with the marine dinoflagellate, Karenia brevis; and other toxins with Ostreopsis ovata) have been shown to cause respiratory symptoms through exposure to aerosols of seawater, particularly in asthmatics (see Table 5.1).
A case of fatal paralytic shellfish poisoning in Alaska
Published in Clinical Toxicology, 2022
Courtney Temple, Adrienne Hughes
Paralytic shellfish poisoning is reported worldwide but fatalities are extremely uncommon. This is the first fatal case of PSP in Alaska in over a decade [3]. The specimens contained concentrations of SXT and congeners that were 140 times the FDA limit for human consumption (<80mcg/100 mg). Large harmful algae blooms (HAB) of Alexandrium spp. cysts and cells have been confirmed in the Aleutian Islands since 2017 and have been migrating northward as a result of warming air temperatures and reduced Arctic sea ice [4]. These species are responsible for the production of unprecedented concentrations of saxitoxin in filter-feeding shellfish [5]. Reports from the 2020 Alaska Harmful Bloom Network as well as the Alaska Ocean Observing System have confirmed the presence of an HAB producing paralytic shellfish toxins (PST) expressed as weekly totals of SXT concentrations specifically in Unalaska harvested Blue Mussels. These concentrations peaked at >7000 mcg/100g tissue in 2020 the same week of the patient’s presentation [6]. The bloom was later confirmed to contain Alexandrium catenella [7]. Elevated concentrations of PSTs result in large-scale public health outreach campaigns including massive beach closures and harvesting bans for public safety [8]. Remote and resource-limited areas require special considerations where prompt identification and intervention are critical for adequate management.
Human poisonings by neurotoxic phycotoxins related to the consumption of shellfish: study of cases registered by the French Poison Control Centres from 2012 to 2019
Published in Clinical Toxicology, 2022
Sandra Sinno-Tellier, Eric Abadie, Luc de Haro, Nathalie Paret, Jérôme Langrand, Gaël Le Roux, Magali Labadie, David Boels, Juliette Bloch, Nicolas Delcourt
Among the 727 cases coded as shellfish poisoning extracted from the SICAP during the study period, we found 619 patients, all types of symptoms combined, distributed in 452 events. In 19.5% of events, the number of patients per event was between 2 and 8. We excluded 108 cases unrelated to shellfish consumption, or with no causal link, or for which shellfish was consumed abroad (Figure 1).