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Foodborne Pathogenic Microorganisms
and Natural Toxins Handbook |
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| 1. Name of the Toxin: | Gempylotoxin | ||||||
| 2. Nature of Acute Disease: | Gempylotoxism or Gempylid Fish Poisoning
FDA Statement on Consumption of Escolar and Oilfish |
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| 3. Nature of Disease: |
An outbreak of gastrointestinal illness associated with the consumption of escolar fish,
K Yohannes, CB Dalton, L Halliday, LE Unicomb, M Kirk, Commun Dis Intell 2002; 26:441-445. Abstract: An outbreak of gastrointestinal illness occurred amongst attendees of a conference lunch in the Hunter area, New South Wales, in October 2001. A distinctive symptom reported by many ill persons was the presence of oily diarrhoea. The Hunter Public Health Unit investigated the outbreak by conducting a telephone interview of the cohort of conference attendees using a standard questionnaire. Twenty persons out of 44 attendees (46%) became ill following the conference. The median incubation period was 2.5 hours (range 1-90 hours). The most common symptoms reported were; diarrhoea (80%) < 38 per cent of these reported oily diarrhoea; abdominal cramps (50%); nausea (45%); headache (35%) and vomiting (25%). For analyses, a case was defined as a person who developed oily diarrhea, or diarrhoea within 48 hours, or had at least two other symptoms of gastroenteritis within 6 hours, of the conference lunch. Seventeen persons had symptoms that met the case definition. None of the foods or beverages consumed were significantly associated with illness, however, all cases had consumed fish and none of those who did not eat fish (4 persons) became ill. Moreover, only 'fish' or 'potato chips' could explain a significant proportion of the illness. Analysis of the oil composition of the fish consumed was consistent with the known profile of the species marketed as 'escolar'. Among those who consumed fish the following potential risk factors did not have a significant association with the illness: Body Mass Index, age, health status and the amount of fish consumed. We concluded that consumption of fish within the marketing group escolar can cause severe abdominal cramping, nausea and vomiting, in addition to incontinent diarrhoea. Full report |
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| 4. Diagnosis of Human Illness: | See above | ||||||
| 5. Associated Foods: | Symptoms are associated with the ingestion of Escolar (Lepidocybium flavobrunneum) or Oilfish (Ruvettus pretiosus). Other species (including Butterfish, Rudderfish, Cod, and Taiwanese Seabass have been implicated, but these may be due to species substitution or misbranding. Images and other information from the Regulatory Fish Encyclopedia:
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| 6. Relative Frequency of Disease: | Gempylotoxin poisoning reports are sporadatic. | ||||||
| 7. Course of Disease and Complications: | See Nature of Disease, above | ||||||
| 8. Target Populations: | Anyone ingesting these fish species may be affected. | ||||||
| 9. Food Analysis: | The oils contain of high levels of indigesible wax esters. | ||||||
| "Rapid detection of oilfish and escolar in fish steaks: A tool to prevent keriorrhea episodes", Ka Ho Ling, Chun Wai Cheung, Sau Wan Cheng, Ling Cheng, Song-Lin Li, Peter D. Nichols, Robert D. Ward, Alastair Graham, Paul Pui-Hay But, Food Chemistry, 110 (2008), 538-546. | |||||||
| PubMed | "Unusually high levels of non-saponifiable lipids in the fishes escolar and rudderfish: Identification by gas and thin-layer chromatography", PD Nichols, BD Mooney, NG Elliott, Journal of Chromatography A, 936 (2001) 183-191 [CSIRO Marine Research, GPO Box 1538, Hobart, Tasmania 7000, Australia. peter.nichols@marine.csiro.au] | ||||||
| PubMed | "Keriorrhoea - the passage of oil per rectum - after ingestion of marine wax esters", Berman P, Harley EH, Spark AA, S. Afr. Med. J. 1981 May 23;59(22), 791-2 | ||||||
| "B.W. Halstead, "Poisonous and Venomous Marine Animals of the World", Vol. II, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 1967 | |||||||
| PubMed | "The lipids of Ruvettus pretiosus muscle and liver", Nevenzel JC, Rodegker W, Mead JF, Biochemistry. 1965 Aug;4(8):1589-94 | ||||||
| PubMed |
[Wax components of escolar (Lepidocybium flavobrunneum) and its application to base of medicine and cosmetics],
Ukishima Y, Masui T, Matsubara S, Goto R, Okada S, Tsuji K, Kosuge T., Yakugaku Zasshi. 1987 Nov;107(11):883-90 [Article in Japanese]
Abstract: Escolar (Lepidocybium flavobrunneum) belonging to family Gempylidae are caught by a rope stretching fishing. The sale of escolars for food, however, is prohibited in Japan because their muscles are rich in wax which may cause a food poisoning. In order to use this wax as a base of medicine or cosmetics, the purification and refinement of the wax and its safety were investigated. |
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| 10. Selected Outbreaks: | Literature references can be found at the links below. | ||||||
| PubMed | An outbreak of gastrointestinal illness associated with the consumption of escolar fish | ||||||
| PubMed | Illness associated with rudderfish/escolar in South Australia | ||||||
| PubMed | Editorial: Diarrhoea associated with consumption of escolar (rudderfish) | ||||||
| PubMed |
Outbreaks of diarrhoea associated with butterfish in Victoria |
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| Other |
Canadian Food Inspection Agency - Facts on Escolar CBC - Canadians fall ill after eating mislabelled oily fish (Feb. 2007) Hong Kong Centre for Food Safety (Jan 2007) Wikipedia entry for Escolar |
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| 11. Education and Background Resources: | Literature references can be found at the links
below. US Food and Drug Administration:
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| 12. Molecular Structural Data: | Wax composed of C32, C34, C36 and C38 fatty acid esters; the main component was C34H66O2 (Ukishima, et al.) | ||||||
M. Walderhaug/F. Fry
January 2008
