Puffer fish in Florida rivers blamed for sickening 13 people

TITUSVILLE, FLORIDA - Scientists investigating sickness suffered by 13 people who ate puffer fish have found a toxin in the species from two Florida rivers. <br> <br> Tests found saxitoxin poison was heaviest in puffers caught in the Indian River near Titusville, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. The toxin also was found in fish from the Banana River. <br> <br> On Monday, the Food and Drug Administration warned against eating puffer fish harvested from the Titusville area, and the state has temporarily banned their consumption. <br> <br> Thirteen people got sick between January and April after eating puffers. Scientists say they do not know why the toxin appears to be concentrated near Titusville. <br> <br> ``Our tests are still ongoing,&#39;&#39; said Jan Landsberg, a research scientist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. <br> <br> The paralytic shellfish toxin is not normally found in puffer fish. The naturally occurring poison is caused by algae, bacteria or other single-celled organisms. <br> <br> ``We don&#39;t know what they&#39;re doing in the puffer fish. We think it could be from a toxic plankton,&#39;&#39; said researcher Michael Quilliam, of the Institute for Marine Biosciences with the National Research Council of Canada. ``Shellfish ate the plankton, puffers ate the shellfish and people ate the puffers. That&#39;s our working hypothesis at this point.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Saxitoxin has been reported in puffer fish in the Far East and the Philippines, scientists said, but has not previously been reported in Florida. <br> <br> In Florida, most such poisonings have been attributed to tetrodotoxin, the poison traditionally found in puffers. Seven cases of puffer fish poisoning were reported in the state between 1951 and 1974. Three were fatal.

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