Ciguatera fish poisoning in Hong Kong--a 10-year perspective on the class of ciguatoxins.

The present study used liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to investigate retrospectively ciguatoxin (CTX)-positive samples as determined by mouse bioassay (MBA) in the past 10 years in Hong Kong. The results showed that Pacific CTXs (P-CTX-1, -2 and -3) were the most commonly observed toxins found in the samples, indicating Pacific Ocean areas as the most important origin of ciguatera fish poisoning. Clinical diagnosis from ciguatera patients also revealed the predominance of neurological illnesses in most cases, supporting intoxication of Pacific origin.

Development of an ICR mouse bioassay for toxicity evaluation in neurotoxic poisoning toxins-contaminated shellfish.

Objective: To develop an ICR (female) mouse bioassay (MBA) for toxicity confirmation and evaluation of neurotoxins (brevetoxins)-contaminated shellfish.

Methods: Brevetoxins (BTX-B) as a causative agent of neurotoxic shellfish poisoning (NSP) under different shellfish matrices were intraperitoneally injected at different doses into mice to study their toxic effects and to differentiate the range of lethal and sublethal dosages. Their sensitivity and specificity were analyzed with 2 competitive ELISA kits for quantitative determination of standard BTX-B and dihydroBTX-B under different shellfish matrix-diluent combinations.

Cluster analysis of toxins profile pattern as a tool for tracing shellfish contaminated with PSP-toxins.

Paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) is one of the most lethal biotoxin-induced diseases worldwide, which may pose serious public health threat and potential devastating economic damage on fisheries industry in the affected region(s). To prevent the importation of PSP contaminated shellfish to a community, detailed documentation on the supply chain and routine surveillance systems are, in principle, crucial measures to protect people from this intoxication. However, difficulties have always been encountered on the traceability of the source/origin of contaminated shellfish.

Community pharmacy incident reporting: a new tool for community pharmacies in Canada.

Incident reporting offers insight into a variety of intricate processes in healthcare. However, it has been found that medication incidents are under reported in the community pharmacy setting. The Community Pharmacy Incident Reporting (CPhIR) program was created by the Institute for Safe Medication Practices Canada specifically for incident reporting in the community pharmacy setting in Canada.

Solid-phase extraction clean-up of ciguatoxin-contaminated coral fish extracts for use in the mouse bioassay.

Florisil solid-phase extraction (SPE) cartridges were used for purifying ciguatoxin (CTX)-contaminated coral fish extracts, with the aim of removing extracted lipid but retaining optimal level of CTXs in the purified fractions. The CTX-containing fraction (target fraction) in fish ether extract was isolated and purified by eluting through a commercially available Florisil cartridge with hexane-acetone-methanol solvent mixtures of increasing polarity (hexane-acetone (4:1, v/v) < acetone-methanol (7:3, v/v) < 100% methanol). Application of Florisil SPE using acetone-methanol (7:3, v/v) condition facilitated the separation of 4.

Features of ciguatera fish poisoning cases in Hong Kong 2004-2007.

Objective: To review the clinical features and laboratory investigations of ciguatera patients in Hong Kong between 2004 and 2007 in order to show the timely sampling of implicated fish from ciguatera victims and application of validated mouse bioassay for confirming suspected clinical cases of ciguatera.

Methods: Diagnosis of the ciguatera victims was based on history of coral fish consumption and clinical presentations stated in official guidelines for clinical diagnosis of ciguatera fish poisoning in Hong Kong. Food remnants of coral fish samples were collected swiftly from ciguatera victims between 2004 and 2007 for ciguatoxins (CTXs) analysis.

Study of an outbreak of ciguatera fish poisoning in Hong Kong.

Ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP) has been a significant and increasing public health problem in Hong Kong since 1980s. With growing demand for imported live coral fishes, the number of people who suffered from this disease has also been increasing. An outbreak of CFP in 2004 was the second most prominent in record as compared with the most significant one that occurred in 1998.