Ciguatera poisoning (CP) has been known in the Canary Islands since 2004. To fight the disease, a control program is being carried out since 2011. The experience acquired in recent years through this program has made it possible to establish risk species in relation to minimum weights for all fish marketed, from which a sample must be analyzed and obtain a negative result, before being sold for human consumption. The current list contains the following species with weights equal to or greater than those indicated: island grouper (Mycteroperca fusca, 7 kg); amberjack (Seriola spp., 12 kg); dusky grouper (Epinephelus marginatus, 12 kg); bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix, 9 kg) and wahoo (Acanthocybium solandri, 35 kg). The results of this program are very reliable and all fish with negative results are released to the market for consumption. No person has been poisoned during these years, and more than 15,000 fish have been evaluated. It must be highlighted that the proportion of CTX-positive fish detected (LOD: 0.003-0.008 ppb Eq. CTX1B) in the Canary Islands has risen from 9.9% in 2017 to 19.2% in 2023. The causes of the new outbreaks of CP detected are discussed in this work.
Real et al. (Fri,) studied this question.