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PRODUCTS: Cigua-Check Fish Poison Test Kit |
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 Detect it. Cigua-Check ® is the world's only disposable rapid test kit for the detection of ciguatera toxin in reef fish. Visit www.cigua.com. Click below to watch the following videos.
Catalyst: Ciguatera Fish Poison or CFP is the most common fish intoxication problem in the world and is increasing in incidence, prevalence and distribution, as the world increasingly becomes a global village. Damage to coral reefs can be expected to increase with increased tourism, and this factor, together with increased global warming and its effect on climate, will create more favourable habitats for G. toxicus and its macroalgal hosts. A worldwide increase in toxic dinoflagellates seems to be a general consensus among specialists; and there is a trend towards increased consumption of seafood, as its health benefits become more widely known.
Source: Ciguatera Fish Poisoning, a review in a risk-assessment framework National Office of Animal and Plant Health, Canberra 1999.
What is CFP? Ciguatera fish poison or CFP is a neurological toxin that can result in serious disease symptoms in people who eat fish from nearshore tropical oceans. Ciguatoxin is produced by a microscopic dinoflagellate algae (Gambierdiscus toxicus) and passed up the food chain. The dinoflagellate is eaten by herbivorous reef fish, which are in turn eaten by larger carnivorous fish, with each step concentrating the toxin. The geographic distribution of toxic fish is very patchy. It is not uncommon for fish in one area to be poisonous while the same species on the other side of the island is safe to eat. Ciguatera Fish Poisoning occurs in a broad circumglobal belt extending roughly between the latitudes of 35 o N and 35 o S. Oceania
Caribbean
Latin American
Southeast Asian
Life Before: The estimated total population in the circumglobal belt where the disease is endemic is about 400 million people, 10% of whom live near seacoasts and frequently eat locally caught fish and seafood. CFP is a major concern of inhabitants of small island countries in tropical and sub-tropical waters, especially the island nations of the Pacific basin. In Australia, most ciguateric fish are caught in Queensland and Northern Territory waters. In the United States, toxicity is usually confined to fish caught in Hawaii and Florida. In the Caribbean, the incidence of CFP is high in St Barthelemy, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The worldwide impact of Ciguatera Fish Poisoning or CFP is estimated at the low-end to be $100 million, 100,000 cases, and 10,000 deaths. The World Health Organization's top-end estimate is $4 billion in economic impact.
Life After: Within 1 hour, and without a lab, anyone can test a fish for Ciguatera Fish Poisoning. No one has to ever suffer from the terrible effects of CFP. The US$800+ million worldwide market for live reef fish can avoid costly lawsuits and damaging publicity.
Where's the Innovative Thinking? Unlike current methods such as bioassay & neuroblastoma assay tests, Cigua-Check® provides reliable test results in less than 1 hour vs. 48 hours and at a 10 times cost savings. Oceanit's spin off company ToxiTec is the maker of Cigua-Check®.
Who Uses Our Services? Government health agencies, reef fish importers & exporters, fishing cooperatives, commercial fishing operations, recreational fisherman, tourists and boaters who will eat reef fish on their journey.
For more information, please email or call:
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