ABSTRACT
The ciguatera syndrome was documented by Europeans in the West Indies as early as the sixteenth century. The symptoms described by Anderson closely match those that can be found in any modern review of ciguatera poisoning. Anderson also noted that the only treatment available was “ to palliate the symptoms from the analogy they bore to those which occur in other diseases”. Ciguatera poisoning is currently a considerable cause of morbidity in tropical regions with an estimated 50 000 people being afflicted each year. Ciguatera poisoning often becomes a significant and serious health problem in the small island nations of the tropics where fish can form a considerable portion of the diet. The ingestion of alcohol can exacerbate the symptoms and can, in some victims, re-establish symptoms after an apparent recovery from an episode of poisoning. A number of episodes of multiple ciguatera poisonings have occurred in Australia after the sale of toxic fish.
