---
cited_by:
  - publication: /report/nca3/chapter/southeast
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  - publication: /report/nca3
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  - publication: /report/usgcrp-climate-human-health-assessment-2016/chapter/water-related-illnesses
    publication_type: chapter
    reference: /reference/2e11dd5d-8524-455b-abfc-faa4b9273b81
  - publication: /report/usgcrp-climate-human-health-assessment-2016
    publication_type: report
    reference: /reference/2e11dd5d-8524-455b-abfc-faa4b9273b81
contributors:
  - display_name: 'Author : Simon Hales '
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      display_name: Simon Hales
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      url: http://www.otago.ac.nz/wellington/departments/publichealth/staff/otago024870.html
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  - display_name: 'Author : Philip Weinstein '
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    person:
      display_name: Philip Weinstein
      first_name: Philip
      id: 4262
      last_name: Weinstein
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      orcid: 0000-0001-9860-7166
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      url: http://www.unisanet.unisa.edu.au/staff/homepage.asp?Name=Phil.Weinstein
    person_id: 4262
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    role_type_identifier: author
    uri: /contributor/6507
  - display_name: 'Author : Alistair Woodward '
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      display_name: Alistair Woodward
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      last_name: Woodward
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description: 'Ciguatera (fish poisoning) is the most frequent cause of human illness caused by ingestion of marine toxins. The toxins are ingested by herbivorous fish which feed on marine algae and are then passed up the food chain to humans eating reef fish. We have used a unique database of reported fish poisoning cases in the South Pacific islands to investigate the relationship between fish poisoning and El Nino Southern Oscillation, a periodic disruption of global climate that is associated with marked changes in rainfall, temperatures, and ocean currents. This provides an opportunity to study the effects of a strong climate signal on a sensitive ecosystem in a region that has been less subject to local human disturbance than most others. Using a mixed ecological study design, we calculated correlations between reports of fish poisoning in individual Pacific Islands, estimates of local sea surface temperature, and the Southern Oscillation Index. Strong positive correlations between the annual incidence of fish poisoning and local warming of the sea surface were found in a group of islands which experience warming during El Nino conditions. In another group of islands, which experience cooling of the sea surface during El Nino events, there were weaker negative correlations between fish poisoning and local sea surface temperature. The results are consistent with other evidence suggesting a close interdependence of marine ecosystems and climate. Increases in ciguatera may result if the climate continues to warm as a result of the enhanced greenhouse effect. Coral reefs have been under increasing pressure from human populations in recent years; ciguatera may be a sensitive indicator of environmental disturbance in tropical marine ecosystems. '
display_name: 'Ciguatera (Fish Poisoning), El Nino, and Pacific Sea Surface Temperatures'
doi: 10.1046/j.1526-0992.1999.09903.x
files: []
href: http://52.38.26.42:8080/article/10.1046/j.1526-0992.1999.09903.x.yaml
identifier: 10.1046/j.1526-0992.1999.09903.x
journal_identifier: ecosystem-health
journal_pages: 20-25
journal_vol: 5
notes: ~
parents:
  - display_name: 'NCA3 Chapter 17: Southeast and the Caribbean'
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    uri: /report/nca3/chapter/southeast
  - display_name: 'Climate Change Impacts in the United States: The Third National Climate Assessment'
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    uri: /report/nca3
  - display_name: "Chapter 6: Climate Impacts on Water-Related Illnesses (in 'The Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health in the United States: A Scientific Assessment')"
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    uri: /report/usgcrp-climate-human-health-assessment-2016/chapter/water-related-illnesses
  - display_name: 'The Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health in the United States: A Scientific Assessment'
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    uri: /report/usgcrp-climate-human-health-assessment-2016
references: []
title: 'Ciguatera (Fish Poisoning), El Nino, and Pacific Sea Surface Temperatures'
type: article
uri: /article/10.1046/j.1526-0992.1999.09903.x
url: ~
year: 1999