Saxitoxin Puffer Fish Poisoning in the United States, with the First Report of <i>Pyrodinium bahamense</i> as the Putative Toxin Source

Abstract

Associated with fatal paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) in the Pacific but not known to be toxic in the western Atlantic, P. bahamense is an emerging public health threat. We propose characterizing this food poisoning syndrome as saxitoxin puffer fish poisoning (SPFP) to distinguish it from PFP, which is traditionally associated with tetrodotoxin, and from PSP caused by STXs in shellfish.