Pufferfish Poisoning in Thailand
A recent news report commented upon the fact that vendors in Thailand have been selling puffer fish meat and calling it salmon. According to a reporting physician in Thailand, this disguised (dyed in some cases) puffer fish meat has caused at least 15 deaths over the past year.
The toxin is found in the entire fish (including the flesh, or "meat"), with greatest concentration in the liver, intestines, reproductive organs, and skin. After the victim has eaten the fish, symptoms can occur as quickly as 10 minutes later or be delayed by a few hours. These include numbness and tingling around the mouth, lightheadedness, drooling, sweating, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, weakness, difficulty walking, paralysis, difficulty breathing, and collapse. As noted above, this ingestion can be fatal. Tetrodotoxin is also found in other animals; for instance, it is the toxin responsible for the potentially lethal bite of the Indo-Pacific blue-ringed octopus.
