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JAMA. 1998;280:1394-1395.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

MMWR. 1998;47:692-694

ON OCTOBER 21, 1997, the Southeast Texas Poison Center was contacted by a local physician requesting information about treatment for crew members of a cargo ship docked in Freeport, Texas, who were ill with nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and muscle weakness. This report summarizes an investigation of this outbreak by the Texas Department of Health (TDH), which indicated that 17 crew members experienced ciguatera fish poisoning resulting from eating a contaminated barracuda.

On October 12 and 13, gastrointestinal illness developed in crew members aboard a Norwegian cargo ship. After the ship had docked, on October 22 interviews were conducted with 23 (85%) of 27 crew members. A case was defined as ciguatera fish poisoning if there was a combination of gastrointestinal symptoms (i.e., nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, or abdominal cramps) and neurologic symptoms (i.e., muscle pain, weakness, dizziness, numbness or itching of the mouth, hands, or feet) in a crew . . . [Full Text of this Article]