A Garoupa (Grouper) lies on the chopping block at a seafood restaurant in Sai Kung, Hong Kong.
Fears were raised last week about the safety of eating exotic fish due to a recent outbreak of ciguatera poisoning in Hong Kong. The ciguatoxin has poisoned over 60 people since Monday. Symptoms of ciguatera poisoning include fatigue, diarrhoea, vomiting, numbness, chills and fever. The toxin cannot be destroyed by cooking and there is no way of telling whether a fish is toxic by its' appearance. Concerned officials from Hong Kong's Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department confirmed that there is no quick test available to check fish for ciguatoxin. Three thousand coral garoupa, recalled last week because they were believed to be the source of the outbreak, came from the South Pacific nation of Kiribati.