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Microcystins (MCs) are cyanotoxins produced mainly by freshwater cyanobacteria, which constitute a threat to public health due to their negative effects on humans, such as gastroenteritis and related diseases, including death. In Mozambique, where only 50% of the people have access to safe drinking water, this hepatotoxin is not monitored, and consequently, the population may be exposed to MCs. The few studies done in Maputo and Gaza provinces indicated the occurrence of MC-LR, -YR, and -RR at a concentration ranging from 6.83 to 7.78 µg·L−1, which are very high, around 7 times above than the maximum limit (1 µg·L−1) recommended by WHO. The potential MCs-producing in the studied sites are mainly Microcystis species. These data from Mozambique and from surrounding countries (South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Malawi, Zambia, and Tanzania) evidence the need to implement an operational monitoring program of MCs in order to reduce or avoid the possible cases of intoxications since the drinking water quality control tests recommended by the Ministry of Health do not include an MC test. To date, no data of water poisoning episodes recorded were associated with MCs presence in the water. However, this might be underestimated due to a lack of monitoring facilities and/or a lack of public health staff trained for recognizing symptoms of MCs intoxication since the presence of high MCs concentration was reported in Maputo and Gaza provinces.
Isidro José Tamele; Vitor Vasconcelos. Microcystin Incidence in the Drinking Water of Mozambique: Challenges for Public Health Protection. Toxins 2020, 12, 368 .
AMA StyleIsidro José Tamele, Vitor Vasconcelos. Microcystin Incidence in the Drinking Water of Mozambique: Challenges for Public Health Protection. Toxins. 2020; 12 (6):368.
Chicago/Turabian StyleIsidro José Tamele; Vitor Vasconcelos. 2020. "Microcystin Incidence in the Drinking Water of Mozambique: Challenges for Public Health Protection." Toxins 12, no. 6: 368.
The main aim of this review was to assess the incidence of Pb, Hg and Cd in seafood from African countries on the Indian and the Red Sea coasts and the level of their monitoring and control, where the direct consumption of seafood without quality control are frequently due to the poverty in many African countries. Some seafood from African Indian and the Red Sea coasts such as mollusks and fishes have presented Cd, Pb and Hg concentrations higher than permitted limit by FAOUN/EU regulations, indicating a possible threat to public health. Thus, the operationalization of the heavy metals (HM) monitoring and control is strongly recommended since these countries have laboratories with minimal conditions for HM analysis.
Isidro José Tamele; Patricia Vázquez Loureiro. Lead, Mercury and Cadmium in Fish and Shellfish from the Indian Ocean and Red Sea (African Countries): Public Health Challenges. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering 2020, 8, 344 .
AMA StyleIsidro José Tamele, Patricia Vázquez Loureiro. Lead, Mercury and Cadmium in Fish and Shellfish from the Indian Ocean and Red Sea (African Countries): Public Health Challenges. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering. 2020; 8 (5):344.
Chicago/Turabian StyleIsidro José Tamele; Patricia Vázquez Loureiro. 2020. "Lead, Mercury and Cadmium in Fish and Shellfish from the Indian Ocean and Red Sea (African Countries): Public Health Challenges." Journal of Marine Science and Engineering 8, no. 5: 344.
The occurrence of Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) and bacteria can be one of the great threats to public health due to their ability to produce marine toxins (MTs). The most reported MTs include paralytic shellfish toxins (PSTs), amnesic shellfish toxins (ASTs), diarrheic shellfish toxins (DSTs), cyclic imines (CIs), ciguatoxins (CTXs), azaspiracids (AZTs), palytoxin (PlTXs), tetrodotoxins (TTXs) and their analogs, some of them leading to fatal outcomes. MTs have been reported in several marine organisms causing human poisoning incidents since these organisms constitute the food basis of coastal human populations. In African countries of the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea, to date, only South Africa has a specific monitoring program for MTs and some other countries count only with respect to centers of seafood poisoning control. Therefore, the aim of this review is to evaluate the occurrence of MTs and associated poisoning episodes as a contribution to public health and monitoring programs as an MT risk assessment tool for this geographic region.
Isidro José Tamele; Marisa Silva; Vitor Vasconcelos. The Incidence of Marine Toxins and the Associated Seafood Poisoning Episodes in the African Countries of the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. Toxins 2019, 11, 58 .
AMA StyleIsidro José Tamele, Marisa Silva, Vitor Vasconcelos. The Incidence of Marine Toxins and the Associated Seafood Poisoning Episodes in the African Countries of the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. Toxins. 2019; 11 (1):58.
Chicago/Turabian StyleIsidro José Tamele; Marisa Silva; Vitor Vasconcelos. 2019. "The Incidence of Marine Toxins and the Associated Seafood Poisoning Episodes in the African Countries of the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea." Toxins 11, no. 1: 58.
Tetrodotoxin (TTX) is a potent marine neurotoxin with bacterial origin. To date, around 28 analogs of TTX are known, but only 12 were detected in marine organisms, namely TTX, 11-oxoTTX, 11-deoxyTTX, 11-norTTX-6(R)-ol, 11-norTTX-6(S)-ol, 4-epiTTX, 4,9-anhydroTTX, 5,6,11-trideoxyTTX, 4-CysTTX, 5-deoxyTTX, 5,11-dideoxyTTX, and 6,11-dideoxyTTX. TTX and its derivatives are involved in many cases of seafood poisoning in many parts of the world due to their occurrence in different marine species of human consumption such as fish, gastropods, and bivalves. Currently, this neurotoxin group is not monitored in many parts of the world including in the Indian Ocean area, even with reported outbreaks of seafood poisoning involving puffer fish, which is one of the principal TTX vectors know since Egyptian times. Thus, the main objective of this review was to assess the incidence of TTXs in seafood and associated seafood poisonings in the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. Most reported data in this geographical area are associated with seafood poisoning caused by different species of puffer fish through the recognition of TTX poisoning symptoms and not by TTX detection techniques. This scenario shows the need of data regarding TTX prevalence, geographical distribution, and its vectors in this area to better assess human health risk and build effective monitoring programs to protect the health of consumers in Indian Ocean area.
Isidro José Tamele; Marisa Silva; Vitor Vasconcelos. The Incidence of Tetrodotoxin and Its Analogs in the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. Marine Drugs 2019, 17, 28 .
AMA StyleIsidro José Tamele, Marisa Silva, Vitor Vasconcelos. The Incidence of Tetrodotoxin and Its Analogs in the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. Marine Drugs. 2019; 17 (1):28.
Chicago/Turabian StyleIsidro José Tamele; Marisa Silva; Vitor Vasconcelos. 2019. "The Incidence of Tetrodotoxin and Its Analogs in the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea." Marine Drugs 17, no. 1: 28.