Citation

Derne B, Fearnley E, Goater S, Carter K, Weinstein P. Pac. Health Dialog 2010; 16(2): 99-108.

Affiliation

The University of Queensland, School of Population Health, Herston Road, Herston, QLD, Australia 4006.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Pacific Basin Officers Training Program and the Fiji School of Medicine)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

21714346

Abstract

Ciguatera Fish Poisoning (CFP), a significant public health problem in the Pacific, is intrinsically linked to the health of coral reef ecosystems. Incidence data on CFP could therefore be used, in theory, as indicators of disruption to coral reefs. Some disruptions, such as increasing sea surface temperatures, result from global environmental change--therefore suggesting that CFP is likely to become an increasing public health problem in the region. The proactive management of increasing numbers of cases will depend on an understanding of the ecology of the disease, sound health surveillance systems to report cases of CFP including appropriate case definitions, and quantifiable correlations between case numbers and environmental variables. Here, we briefly review the knowledge about these components in Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs), including summarising regional variation in symptoms of CFP cases, investigating media as an enhanced surveillance tool, and summarising regional environmental drivers of CFP cases. We conclude that CFP could be an important indicator of the health of reef ecosystems in the face of global climate change and more novel approaches such as combining environmental and health data, need to be implemented to improve surveillance of CFP.

Language: en