Prevalence, symptoms and chronicity of ciguatera in New Caledonia: Results from an adult population survey conducted in Noumea during 2005

Ciguatera is a widespread ichthyosarcotoxism which causes gastrointestinal, neurological and cardiovascular disturbances. Investigations conducted by ORSTOM in 1992 highlighted a prevalence of 25% in the adult population of Noumea, New Caledonia. The main objective of our study was to estimate the prevalence of ciguatera and the persistence of symptoms by sex and by ethnicity among adult patients of a nurse clinic in Noumea in 2005.Investigations were conducted from 1st January to 15th June 2005. During this period, 559 patients were included: 165 males and 394 females. Among them, 37.8% were poisoned at least once in their life. This rate was independent of gender and ethnicity, but was significantly higher in age groups above 40 years. Neurological signs were more frequent (>80%) than gastrointestinal (<50%) and cardiac signs (<15%). Symptoms presented no difference between ethnic or gender groups, even for subjective signs. Most of poisonings were due to carnivorous fishes, but quite all species living in the lagoon were quoted. Symptoms persisted more than one year for 34% of the population, in both Melanesians and Caucasians.This study shows a significant increase of ciguatera prevalence, and its chronicity for 1/5 of European cases.