This long running FIRTA grant supported a center in Australia for research, consultancy and training on parasites and diseases important to the fishing industry.  The center was established by FIRTA in 1977.  During the life of FIRC 1981-020 many industry problems were successfully investigated, industry queries answered and training programs completed.   This report summarised many of the projects and given references to publications in which the findings are described in more detail.

Ciguatera poisoning is a form of seafood poisoning that occurs in humans after the ingestion of particular specimens of a variety of tropical marine fish species. Ciguatera poisoning is caused by the ingestion of small quantities of a very powerful toxin, ciguatoxin (CTX), that occurs in the tissues of the offending fish.

The distribution of human ciguatera poisoning is confined mainly to the tropics where it is a considerable cause of morbidity. Over 50,000 people may be afflicted each year in the tropical regions of the world. It is the most frequently reported foodborne disease of a chemical nature within the USA with most cases emanating from tropical regions of southeastern Florida and Hawaii.

In the small Pacific Island nations where fish forms a considerable component of the diet, ciguatera poisoning can cause a significant public health problem. South Pacific Commission figures over the five year period 1977 to 1981 report incidences as low as 2.5/100,000 in French Polynesia. Estimates of the annual incidences of ciguatera poisoning in two Australian communities were 24/100,000 in Maryborough - Hervey Bay and 34/100,000 in Cairns.

Some of the objectives of this project were to examine the histopathological effects of CTX on non nervous tissues; to assess the effects of CTX on survival in fish; to assess the functional and structural damage to peripheral nerves in the victims of chronic CTX intoxication; and to examine the effects of CTX on excitable membranes in "carrier" and "non-carrier" species of fish.