Food poisoning due to the consumption of shellfish.
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As a result of the proliferation of toxic marine dinoflagellates along European coasts and the recent discovery of paralytic poisons in French shellfish, experimental studies were conducted on four species of shellfish from the Brittany coasts. Contamination rates of a culture of toxic Protogonyaulax tamarensis, were determined for Mytilus edulis, Crassostrea gigas, Pecten maximus and Ruditapes philippinarum. Mussels and scallops were very rapidly contaminated showing high toxin accumulation rates, whereas rates for oysters and clams were low. During the decontamination phase, two stages were observed in mussels and scallops: a fast decrease in toxin, of the same order of magnitude as the accumulation, followed by a slow decrease, with the toxic rate remaining above the quarantine level of 80 micrograms/100 g. Toxin analysis, both in the culture and in the shellfish, was performed using high performance liquid chromatography. GTX3 and GTX8/epiGTX8 were the dominant toxins in the early stage of the decontamination phases, whereas GTX2 was the predominant compound during the slow phase of decontamination.
Louisiana provides nearly 40% of domestic seafood production. America's commercial fisheries, especially coastal shellfish fisheries, now face crippling economic and environmental pressures from seafood imports, over-fishing, urban and agricultural wastewater runoff, harmful algal blooms, and coastal wetlands loss. As a result of these ecosystem stresses, seafood-borne disease now causes 37% of all foodborne illness in the United States. Louisiana and other coastal-state physicians can effectively curtail the rising threat of local shellfish-borne disease outbreaks by supporting responsible coastal restoration and regulation of commercial shell-fishing, especially oyster fishing, and by recommending careful selection and preparation of all shellfish and crustaceans.
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A new human toxic syndrome, azaspiracid poisoning (AZP), was identified following illness from the consumption of contaminated mussels (Mytilus edulis). To discover the aetiology of AZP, sensitive analytical protocols involving liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) were used to screen marine phytoplankton for azaspiracids. Collections of single species were prepared by manually separating phytoplankton for LC-MS analysis. A dinoflagellate species of the genus, Protoperidinium, has been identified as the progenitor of azaspiracids. Azaspiracid-1, and its analogues, AZA2 and AZA3, were identified in extracts of 200 cells using electrospray multiple tandem MS. This discovery has significant implications for both human health and the aquaculture industry since this phytoplankton genus was previously considered to be toxicologically benign. The average toxin content was 1.8 fmol of total AZA toxins per cell with AZA1 as the predominant toxin, accounting for 82% of the total.
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BACKGROUND: More thorough information about risks, exposures and vehicles of food borne diseases can be obtained from epidemiological field investigations than from infectious disease reports or laboratory data. METHODS: We analysed the results of 410 field investigations of food borne disease outbreaks reported from 1996 to 2000 and conducted as cohort studies. RESULTS: The incidence of food borne outbreaks increased from 0.8/100,000 in 1996 to 2.0 in 1999, as did the incidence of salmonellosis (from 16/100,000 to 21 in the same period) and diarrhoea episodes reported by laboratories (from 12/100,000 in 1997 to 29 in 1999). Of the food borne disease outbreaks, 264 (64.4%) occurred in private homes; 5 (1.2%) in hospitals; 31 (7.6%) in canteens and refectories, 84 (20.5%) in restaurants, 41 of which occurred during special functions. The home outbreaks exposed few people (average of 7), had high attack rates (61.7% average) and a high proportion of known aetiology (66%), while food borne disease outbreaks in canteens and restaurants (during special functions) exposed many people (300 and 81, respectively), had medium attack rates (19.7 and 34.5%, respectively) and a higher proportion of confirmed vehicles (50 and 49%, respectively), compared to those occurring at home (21%). Salmonella spp. was the most frequent agent detected in each setting (67% of confirmed cases). The most frequent vehicles at home were mushrooms and sweets containing eggs and cream; in canteens, meat and vegetables and in restaurants, shellfish. CONCLUSIONS: Outbreak characteristics varied according to the setting. This implies the need for a different approach of field investigations, and different preventive measures.
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Seafood poisoning has been recognized as a problem in both coastal and inland populations for millennia. Many types of sea creatures from shellfish to the largest fish have been implicated. Severe cases of many different types of seafood poisonings can result in fatalities. While the pathophysiology of the toxins is well known in some cases, others, like ciguatera, remain somewhat confusing. As a result, the treatment of these conditions remains controversial, although supportive care continues to be the mainstay of therapy. In this manuscript, we review the pathophysiology, clinical presentation, and treatment of some of the most common and toxic varieties of seafood poisoning resulting from toxins.
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Incidents of human intoxications throughout Europe, following the consumption of mussels have been attributed to Azaspiracid Poisoning (AZP). Although first discovered in Ireland, the search for the causative toxins, named azaspiracids, in other European countries has now led to the first discovery of these toxins in shellfish from France and Spain. Separation of the toxins, azaspiracid (AZA1) and analogues, AZA2 and AZA3, was achieved using isocratic reversed-phase liquid chromatography coupled, via an electrospray ionisation source, to an ion-trap mass spectrometer. Azaspiracids were identified in mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis), 0.24 microg/g, from Galicia, Spain, and scallops (Pecten maximus), 0.32 microg/g, from Brittany, France. Toxin profiles were similar to those found in the equivalent shellfish in Ireland in which AZA1 was the predominant toxin.
In 1961, 1971, 1976, 1979 and 1981 several cases of mussel poisoning have been recorded in the Netherlands. During the outbreak of this phenomenon, consumers of raw or cooked mussels, Mytilus edulis, obtained from the Dutch shellfish-growing areas, showed gastrointestinal disorders. Investigations revealed that phytoplankton bloom of the dinoflagellate Dinophysis acuminata Claparède & Lachman preceded the mussel poisoning. After the disappearance of these dinoflagellates, the toxicity of mussels was slowly diminishing and no longer detectable after a cleansing period of about 4 weeks at 14-15 degrees C. Toxicity of mussels could easily be detected by the rat bioassay. The chemical structure of the toxin, isolated in 1981 from toxic mussels from the Dutch Waddensea has been determined in Japan as a dinophysis-type toxin.
Toxigenic saprophytic fungi were isolated from samples of shellfish, sediment and seawater obtained from marine shellfish farming areas. The 456 strains identified included 12 different genera, with a clear predominance (68%) of Penicillium, Aspergillus, Trichoderma and Cladosporium. To assess the risk of poisoning due to the presence of these fungi in shellfish farming areas, the strains were cultured in liquid medium, filtered, and tested on larvae of Artemia salina, a small crustacean highly sensitive to mycotoxins. Thirty-five point five percent of the strains proved active with this test. This study confirms the existence of fungi in shellfish farming areas, as suggested by our earlier work showing that filter-feeding shellfish accumulate toxic metabolites of fungal origin. The presence of fungi in the marine environment represents a real risk of poisoning through the consumption of contaminated shellfish.
Azaspiracids (AZAs) are a group of polyether toxins that cause food poisoning in humans. These toxins, produced by marine dinoflagellates, accumulate in filter-feeding shellfish, especially mussels. Sensitive liquid chromatography-electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS(n)) methods have been developed for the determination of the major AZAs and their hydroxyl analogues. These methods, utilising both chromatographic and mass resolution, were applied for the determination of 10 AZAs in mussels (Mytilus edulis). An optimised isocratic reversed phase method (3 microm Luna-2 C18 column) separated 10 azaspiracids using acetonitrile/water (46:54, v/v) containing 0.05% trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) and 0.004% ammonium acetate in 55 min. Analyte determination using MS3 involved trapping and fragmentation of the [M + H]+ and [M + H - H2O]+ ions with detection of the [M + H - 2H2O]+ ion for each AZA. Linear calibrations were obtained for AZA1, using spiked shellfish extracts, in the range 0.05-1.00 microg/ml (r2 = 0.997) with a detection limit of 5 pg (signal : noise = 3). The major fragmentation pathways in hydroxylated azaspiracids were elucidated using hydrogen/deuterium (H/D) exchange experiments. An LC-MS3 method was developed using unique parent ions and product ions, [M + H - H2O - CgH10O2R1R3]+, that involved fragmentation of the A-ring. This facilitated the discrimination between 10 azapiracids, AZA1-10. Thus, this rapid LC-MS3 method did not require complete chromatographic resolution and the run-time of 7 min had detection limits better than 20 pg for each toxin.
The polyether dinoflagellate toxins, azaspiracids, are responsible for azaspiracid poisoning (AZP), a new human toxic syndrome arising from the consumption of shellfish. To date, five azaspiracids have been isolated and fully structurally elucidated, including, AZA1, its 8-methyl and 22-demethyl analogues, AZA2 and AZA3, respectively, and two hydroxyl derivatives of AZA3, named AZA4 and AZA5. Using a recently developed method involving liquid chromatography with multiple tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS(n)), five new azaspiracids, AZA7-AZA11, have been found in mussels (Mytilus edulis). AZA6 is a positional isomer of AZA1 and four of the new compounds are isomers with a mass of 857.5 amu. AZA7 and AZA8 are hydroxyl analogues of AZA1 while AZA9 and AZA10 are hydroxyl analogues of AZA6. AZA11 is a hydroxyl analogue of AZA2. The separation of all 11 azaspiracids was achieved using isocratic reversed phase liquid chromatography using a combination of eluent additives, trifluoroacetic acid and ammonium acetate. The ion-trap MS experiments, with electrospray ionisation, involved the fragmentation of the protonated molecule [M+H](+), trapping and fragmenting the product ions due to the loss of a water molecule [M+H-H(2)O](+), together with mass spectral data analysis that included the characteristic A-ring fragmentation for each compound.
Toxins in shellfish, which are responsible for paralytic poisonings, undergo reductive transformation when incubated with the homogenate of various portions of the scallop, Placopecten magellanicus. The transformation includes the reductive elimination of O-sulfate groups, a change that is most evident in the locomotor tissue homogenates. The commercially important adductor muscles can also inactivate the toxins.