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Oceanit to
develop test for
fish bio-toxin

By Helen Altonn
Star-Bulletin

Oceanit, a Hawaii-based science, technology and engineering firm, has received a federal contract to develop a rapid, digital method to measure marine bio-toxins in fish that cause ciguatera poisoning.

Dr. Joanne S.M. Ebesu, Oceanit's senior scientist and research director, who earned a doctorate degree at the University of Hawaii medical school, will lead the program.

People who eat reef fish can get ciguatera poisoning, a neurological illness, from a poison called ciguatoxin that accumulates in the fish. The poison is produced by microscopic organisms that grow on the surface of marine algae in reef areas worldwide.

Herbivorous reef fish ingest the poison when they feed on the algae. The poison can be passed up the food chain and accumulate in larger, predatory fish when they eat reef fish.

Patrick K. Sullivan, president of Oceanit Laboratories, Inc., said as many as 5 million people annually are estimated to get some form of ciguatera poisoning. But only about 100,000 cases are diagnosed worldwide, he said. Others are believed to be misdiagnosed as food poisoning or other gastro-intestinal disorders.

Oceanit manufactures and sells Cigua-Check, which detects ciguatoxin in fish flesh. It is developing technology to provide a digital measurement of very small concentrations of ciguatoxin, estimated at less than one part per trillion.

Consuming 25 to 230 micrograms of toxin can cause tingling, numbness or stinging sensations around the mouth, hands or feet, chills, itching, headaches, perspiration, dizziness, muscle pains, weakness and severe vomiting or diarrhea. Cold might feel hot and hot might feel cold.

Oceanit, founded by Sullivan in 1985, has a biotechnology group in Hawaii with offices on Oahu, Maui and Kauai. It also has an office in San Francisco.

The contract is from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.