MSI Public Lecture Series

Food safety is an issue that concerns us all.  Most of us are aware of the potential problems from bacteria contamination of meat, time-temperature abuse consequences of improper food handling, and the general sanitation issues surrounding food preparation.  From marine sources, we have Vibrio and hepatitis in shellfish that can turn a nice plate of oysters into a memory that really stays with you.

In this talk, I will discuss an emerging problem for consumption of certain marine fish in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico:  ciguatera.  This is a tropical disease normally associated with eating contaminated fish caught around coral reefs.  While rarely fatal, it can be debilitating.  The illness is caused by biomagnification of a toxin produced by a microscopic plant.  Although rare, ciguatera has been reported in the waters off of Texas.  However, starting in late 2006, there was a surge in both the number of cases and the type of fish making people sick.  Previous reports had focused on barracuda as ciguatera vectors; however, now grouper and amberjack have been implicated.  In this talk, I will briefly discuss ciguatera and provide the most recent information on a proposed seafood advisory recently circulated by the FDA.

Dr. Villareal is a Professor at The University of Texas Marine Science Institute where he studies Phytoplankton Ecology.  Some of his research includes harmful algal blooms, ciguatera, growth physiology of diatoms and brown tides.  To learn more about Dr. Villareal's research, go to:
http://www.utmsi.utexas.edu/staff/villareal.htm