Assessment of cyanobacteria toxins in freshwater fish: A case study of Murchison Bay (Lake Victoria) and Lake Mburo, Uganda

There is little information on the distribution of microcystins (MCs) in Oreochromis niloticus (ON) and Lates niloticus (LN) obtained from L. Mburo and Murchison Bay of L. Victoria. These fishes are harvested and sold both for local human consumption and for export. The presence of MC-RR, MC-LR and MC-YR in different organs (gut, muscle and liver) was determined using Liquid Chromatography coupled with a Mass Spectrometry Detector (LC/MS/MS). The total MCs in ON gut, muscle and liver were 1312.08, 208.65 and 73.10 ng g−1 from L. Mburo and 1479.24, 9.65 and 48.07 ng g−1 from Murchison Bay, respectively, while for LN from Murchison Bay they were 27.78, 1.86 and 3.74 ng g−1. Generally, in both lakes, MC-RR was the most dominant followed by MC-YR and MC-LR, respectively. Gut showed a high MC content, followed by liver and muscle, in that order. The presence of MCs in muscle indicated possible fish contamination, which implied that it was possible to transfer the toxins to humans who are at the end of the food chain. This poses a risk to them since the MCs are heat stable. The local authorities should warn the public of the risk of possible poisoning by eating the contaminated fish.