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Captain Cook on poison fish

From the Swedish Epilepsy Center, Seattle, WA.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr Doherty, Swedish Epilepsy Center, 801 Broadway, Suite 901 Seattle, WA 98122; e-mail: michael.doherty{at}swedish.org

On his second voyage of discovery, Captain James Cook charted much of the South Pacific. The journey was long, from 1772 to 1775. During the exploration, the geographic, ethnographic, and scientific variety provided no shortage of work for the accompanying naturalists, astronomers, navigators, and painters. Culinary discoveries included new species of fish, many of which were sketched, dressed, and ultimately eaten. The examined journals and correspondence document clinical poisonings after ingestion of two different species of fish. The clinical findings are described and likely represent ciguatera and tetrodotoxin poisonings. Mechanisms of these toxin’s actions are discussed in light of more recent studies.

Disclosure: The author reports no conflicts of interest.

Received April 7, 2005. Accepted in final form August 23, 2005.

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