TABLE 1.
Characteristics of persons with suspected ciguatera fish poisoning — New York City, August 2010–July 2011
| Patient | Outbreak | Date fish consumed | Age (yrs) | Sex | Hours from consumption to symptom onset | Reported fish consumed* | Sought medical attention | Hospitalized | Symptoms | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| ||||||||||||
| Gastrointestinal | Cardiac | Neurologic | Nonspecific/Other | |||||||||
| 1 | 1 | Aug 6, 2010 | 47 | F | 7 | Barracuda | Yes | Yes (ICU) | N, V, D, CR | S, B, LBP, | NT, P | ST, DZ |
| 2 | 1 | Aug 6, 2010 | 16 | F | 7 | Barracuda | Yes | Yes (ICU) | N, V, D, CR | S, B, LBP, HP | DW | CS, W, DZ |
| 3 | 1 | Aug 6, 2010 | 50 | M | 8 | Barracuda | Yes | No | N, V, D, CR | S, LBP, HP | NT, DW | CS, W, DZ |
| 4 | 1 | Aug 6, 2010 | 31 | M | 8 | Barracuda | Yes | No | N, V, D, CR | S, LBP, HP | NT, DW | CS, W, DZ |
| 5 | 1 | Aug 6, 2010 | 12 | F | 8 | Barracuda | Yes | No | CR | NT | H | |
| 6 | 1 | Aug 6, 2010 | 24 | M | 3 | Barracuda | Yes | No | D, CR | NT, P | R | |
| 7 | 2 | Aug 16, 2010 | 43 | F | 3.5 | Barracuda | Yes | No | N, V, D, CR | DW, P | CH, My | |
| 8 | 2 | Aug 16, 2010 | 49 | F | 4.5 | Barracuda | Yes | No | N, V, D, CR | B | P | CH |
| 9 | None | Sep 14, 2010 | 50 | M | 2 | Barracuda | Yes | No | D | B | My, W | |
| 10 | 3 | Aug 24, 2010 | 32 | F | 20 | Barracuda | Yes | Yes | N, V, D | DW, P | My, DZ, Fv | |
| 11 | 3 | Aug 24, 2010 | 31 | M | 11 | Barracuda | No | No | D | DW, P | My, W, DZ, Fv | |
| 12 | 3 | Aug 24, 2010 | 33 | F | N/A | Barracuda | No | No | P | My | ||
| 13 | 3 | Aug 24, 2010 | 41 | M | N/A | Barracuda | No | No | My | |||
| 14 | 4 | Nov 13, 2010 | 2 | F | 0.5 | Grouper | Yes | No | N, V, CR | NT | Fv | |
| 15 | 4 | Nov 9, 2010 | 28 | F | 38.5 | Grouper | No | No | D | NT | W | |
| 16 | 4 | Nov 9, 2010 | 33 | F | 15 | Grouper | No | No | N, V | NT | W | |
| 17 | 4 | Nov 9, 2010 | 56 | F | 3.5 | Grouper | Yes | No | N, V, D, CR | LBP, HP, B | NT, PD, DW, P | W, H |
| 18 | 4 | Nov 9, 2010 | 32 | F | 25.5 | Grouper | Yes | No | N, V, D, CR | NT, TP, PD, DW, P | W, Fv, H | |
| 19 | 4 | Nov 9, 2010 | 58 | M | 4.5 | Grouper | No | No | D, CR | HP | NT, PD, DW, P | W, H |
| 20 | 4 | Nov 9, 2010 | 12 | F | 1 | Grouper | Yes | No | CR | NT, DW, P | W | |
| 21 | 4 | Nov 9, 2010 | 53 | F | 44.5 | Grouper | Yes | No | D | NT, DW, P | W, H | |
| 22 | 4 | Nov 9, 2010 | 7 | F | 4.5 | Grouper | Yes | No | N, V, D, CR | NT, P | W, H | |
| 23 | 4 | Nov 9, 2010 | 7 | F | 16.5 | Grouper | Yes | No | N, V, CR | NT, P | H | |
| 24 | 4 | Nov 19, 2010 | 51 | M | 10 | Grouper | Yes | No | N, V, D, CR | HP, LBP, B | NT, TP, DW, P | W |
| 25 | 5 | Jul 13, 2011 | 54 | F | 9 | Grouper | No | No | N, CR | |||
| 26 | 5 | Jul 13, 2011 | 51 | M | 5 | Grouper | No | No | N, D, CR | PD, P | W | |
| 27 | 6 | Jul 13, 2011 | 48 | F | 4 | Grouper | Yes | Yes | N, V, D, CR | PD | ||
| 28 | 6 | Jul 13, 2011 | 60 | M | 6 | Grouper | No | No | D, CR | PD | W | |
Abbreviations: B = bradycardia; CH = chills; CR = cramps; CS = cold sweats; D = diarrhea; DW = difficulty walking; DZ = dizziness; F = female; Fv = fever; H = headache; HP = heart palpitations; ICU = intensive-care unit; LBP = hypotension; M = male; My = myalgia; N = nausea; N/A = not available; NT = numbness or tingling; P = pruritus; PD = paradoxical dysesthesias; R = rash; S = syncope; ST = swollen tongue; TP = tooth pain; V = vomiting; W = weakness.
*
None of the fish were speciated; all species were reported from food establishment records.