A Queensland family with ciguatera after eating coral trout

Ciguatera (poisoning caused by eating fish contaminated with algal toxins) is usually diagnosed clinically. We describe a Queensland family of four (including a pregnant woman) with ciguatera, confirmed by bioassay of the implicated fish for ciguatoxin. All four recovered, illustrating the effectiveness of treatment with intravenous mannitol. At birth, the infant appeared to suffer no adverse effects attributable to ciguatera; to our knowledge, this is the first report of the effect of severe ciguatera in the first trimester of pregnancy.