ciguatera

American  

[see-gwuh-ter-uh, sig-wuh‑] / ˌsi gwəˈtɛr ə, ˌsɪg wə‑ /

noun

1. a tropical disease caused by ingesting a poison found in certain marine fishes.

---

Etymology

Origin of ciguatera

First recorded in 1860–65; from Latin American Spanish, perhaps from Cuban Spanish cigua, from Taíno “sea slug”

Example Sentences

And his 1958 foundational paper on the causative agent behind ciguatera poisoning, a foodborne illness experienced by tens of thousands of people annually, has been cited hundreds of times by fellow scientists.

From Washington Post • Apr. 30, 2020

Illness caused by eating fish contaminated with the toxin ciguatera is expected to rise with sea temperatures.

From Scientific American • Sep. 9, 2018

They are concerned that lionfish may contain ciguatoxin, a common tropical poison that causes somewhere between 50,000 and 500,000 cases of ciguatera fish poisoning every year.

From Slate • Jul. 1, 2013

These days ciguatera is not just a tropical threat.

From New York Times • Apr. 9, 2010

Eat one, and there's a good chance you'll get ciguatera poisoning.

From Time Magazine Archive