Summer bloom of Vulcanodinium rugosum in Cienfuegos Bay (Cuba) associated to dermatitis in swimmers

Liza ramada Juveniles after Exposure to the Toxic Dinoflagellate Vulcanodinium rugosum: Effects on Fish Viability, Tissue Contamination and Microalgae Survival after Gut Passage

“…V. rugosum is known to show important variability in terms of toxin production, based on the environmental conditions and geographical origin [58][59][60]. The strain used here contains high PnTX G concentration (0.81 pg/cell compared to the IFR-VRU-01 strain: 0.14-0.36 pg/cell) [58] and also high Prtn A concentration (9.2 pg/cell compared to the strain from Cienfuegos Bay, Cuba: 0.4 pg/cell) [18]. Under natural conditions, fish eat both zooplankton and phytoplankton species [61]: the experimental conditions could have led to mortality due to impoverished diet, but mugilids are known for their ability to be maintained and studied in captivity [62].…”

“…Portimines act as an apoptosis inducer and are less toxic to mice at equal doses, but cause death at high concentrations [17]. V. rugosum and its toxins have been found in many areas around the world such as China, Japan, New Zealand, Cuba and France [14,[18][19][20][21]. In the French Mediterranean Ingril lagoon, record concentrations of PnTX G have been found in mussel tissues (up to 1244 µg PnTX G/kg of whole wet body weight (wbw)) during V. rugosum blooming season (June to September) [13][14][15].…”

Emerging Marine Biotoxins in European Waters: Potential Risks and Analytical Challenges

“…Like SPXs, no human intoxications have been reported linked to PnTXs consumption. However, last year sixty people needed medical assistance due to a dermatitis outbreak in Cienfuegos (Cuba) after direct exposure to seawater containing a bloom of V. rugossum [ 58 ]. Patients were treated with antibiotics and some children were hospitalized.…”

“…Patients were treated with antibiotics and some children were hospitalized. After that, it was confirmed that V. rugosum cells contained mainly PnTX-F (441.8 fg/cell), PnTX-E (94.2 fg/cell), and small concentrations of PnTX-D, PnTX-G, and some isomers of PnTX-E and -F [ 58 ].…”

“…Currently, these compounds are being detected in oysters, mussels, razor clams, and clams from coasts of numerous countries such as Canada, [54], Norway [55], France [56], Spain [6,20,57], and Chile [48], proving their wide distribution. It seems that dinoflagellates from the Pacific Coast of New Zealand, Australia, and the Atlantic coast of Cuba mainly produce PnTX-E and PnTX-F [52,53,58]. The microalgae from European waters mainly exhibits a different toxin profile, consisting in the production of PnTX-G and PnTX-A [6,46,57,59].…”