Hong Kong - A Hong Kong fisherman was critically ill in hospital Tuesday after eating a poisonous puffer fish caught from a cargo vessel. The 54-year-old fell ill and was rushed to hospital about an hour after eating the fish in a bowl of soup he cooked on board the vessel, which was sailing in Hong Kong waters Monday.
He later fell unconscious and was flown to Hong Kong's Princess Margaret Hospital where he was Tuesday in a critical condition, after swallowing the potent tetrodotoxin contained in the fish.
Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection warned that people should avoid eating puffer fish because the toxin it contains has no known antidote and does not break down when the fish is cooked.
Poisoning by puffer fish was first recorded in the 18th century logs of Captain James Cook, whose crew members fell ill and pigs kept on board died after eating the fish.
Tetrodotoxin, which causes victims to suffer breathing difficulties and lapse into comas, has been known to kill anyone who eats it in as little as 17 minutes.
