abstract:Pfiesteria is a genus of heterotrophic dinoflagellates that has been associated with harmful algal blooms and fish kills. Pfiesteria complex organisms (PCOs) were claimed to be responsible for large fish kills in the 1980s and 1990s on the coast of North Carolina and in tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay.
"The explosive onset of an acute ciguatera illness can be readily identified clinically, but there is no consistent mechanism available to confirm the diagnosis in chronic cases, " said Dr Shoemaker, of the Pfiesteria Illness Center, Maryland.