Post #730254 by VampiressRN on Fri, Oct 24, 2014 8:29 PM

In a related but not closely related news story...

October 24, 2014
A deadly pufferfish hospitalized an entire family who unintentionally consumed the poisonous fish for dinner.

According to Brazil's Globo News, eleven members of the Souza family ate a pufferfish which had been gifted to them by a friend. They mistook the gift as food and began feeling the effects of the fish's toxins almost immediately.

The pufferfish is considered the world's most deadly fish.

One of the unaffected family members told Brazil's RJ TV, "My husband was the first to say he couldn't feel his tongue, then his face and then his arms. Then his legs went dead and he couldn't stand up any more. [...] My brother-in-law was the same. He didn't even make it out the door. We had to carry them out and rush them to hospital in a car."

Pufferfish contain tetrodotoxin, a lethal poison 1,200 times stronger than cyanide. Even the smallest quantity of the poison can cause respiratory paralysis within 24 hours.

Another member of the Souza family said that everyone who consumed the pufferfish remains in critical condition.

Despite the fish's deadly poisons, pufferfish are a delicacy in Japan. Called Fugu, they may only be prepared by trained, licensed chefs who are able to separate the toxic organs from the edible ones.

Before you daredevils go and order Fugu next time you're eating sushi, you should know there is no known antidote to the pufferfish poison.