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Ciguatera poisoning is due to the consumption of fish and some marine invertebrates contaminated by neurotoxins produced by a micro-algae.
Considered the most widespread non-bacterial foodborne poisoning in the world, Ciguatera affects several hundred thousand people each year, mostly living in the intertropical belt.
This affection, for which no specific and effective treatment exists, remains by many aspects, a real scientific and medical enigma.
If in most cases, the symptoms of the poisoning subside in a few weeks without any after-effects, for some people, ciguatera will turn into a real medical battle for several years.
Under the influence of climate change, the ciguatoxic phenomenon, which until now mainly concerned the tropical and intertropical regions of the Pacific, the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean, is expending to new areas.
Still poorly known by the general public and health professionals, actions of information, the development of a concerted international research, the implementation of regulations and both epidemiological and environmental surveillance of ciguatera have become a priority.
This website, realized by the research team of the Marine Biotoxins Laboratory of the Louis Malardé Institute, based in French Polynesia, offers a wide range of information on ciguatera, but also information supports to download, other links related to the poisoning and gives you the opportunity to share your experience and ask your questions through our Facebook page.You will also find a dynamic and participatory map of the toxic fishing areas and species to avoid for the Pacific region, available for free access.
Ciguatera.pf also proposes a new generation of epidemiological surveillance tools, where health professionals and the general population can anonymously report cases of poisoning brought to their attention.
The information thus collected contributes to improving the knowledge on the environmental factors involved in the toxic phenomenon and on the pathology.
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