It may happen that, after sharing the same meal, only some persons develop the symptoms of the poisoning. This phenomenon can be illustrated with the theory of “the straw that broke the camel’s back”:

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Chronic consumers of marine products from ciguatera-endemic areas accumulate small amounts of ciguatoxins in their bodies throughout their lives. CTXs are then redistributed and stored in different organs and tissues (fat cells and muscles specifically, due to the highly lipophilic nature of ciguatoxins).

Toxins content is therefore likely to vary from one individual to another, depending on their dietary habits.

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It is only when the individual “symptomatic threshold” is reached that the symptoms appear.

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The level of this threshold is estimated around 0.1 ng of toxins/g. of flesh.