Egypt : Assiut Health warns citizens against eating “rabbit fish”

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The Health Directorate in Assiut warned Egyptians against eating or catching “rabbit fish” because it is a poisonous fish that leads to death and its poison does not have a healing serum.

The Assiut Health Directorate confirmed that the "rabbit fish" is known to be the deadliest in the world.

The statement said that this fish is known as the "cickfish", "pufffish" or "rabbit fish" and is widespread in the markets and eating it leads to death.

The Assiut Health Directorate's statement indicated that the "rabbit fish" is distinguished by its gray skin and was called the gnat because of its sharp, pointed teeth. It is known as the "rabbit or puffer fish" because it inflates when it senses danger.

The shark contains poisonous glands under the skin, viscera, liver, meat, and marrow.

Dr. Ahmed Sayed Musa, Undersecretary of the Health Directorate for Preventive Affairs in Assiut, confirmed that the poison found in the fish is “tetrodotox” poison, and there is no cure serum yet.

He stated that the “cickfish” or “rabbit” lives at the bottom of the sea and feeds on fish waste and types of toxic algae, stressing that when eating a cuckoo fish, symptoms of poisoning begin to appear within 20 minutes to an hour.

He stated that the symptoms may last for two days, and its poison causes death within 6 to 8 hours.

Symptoms of poisoning include abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, weakness, muscle paralysis, low blood pressure, low heart rate, body numbness, shortness of breath, and may lead to paralysis or coma.

For his part, Dr. Mohamed Zein El-Din Hafez, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health in Assiut, warned Egyptians against eating “rabbit fish” because it represents a severe health risk that may lead to food poisoning and death.

Some merchants who skin the fish and sell it in the form of fillet pieces to hide its features so that Egyptians are not able to know the type of fish have also warned that they would be subject to criminal liability that would expose them to imprisonment.

While the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health in Asyut directed the Food Control Department in the Directorate and the health departments to intensify campaigns on places selling fresh fish (shops - broilers - markets) to ensure that there are no “rabbit fish” or “pufffish” and in the event of their presence, the necessary legal measures will be taken in addition to... Intensifying campaigns against street vendors and taking the necessary measures if they possess and sell “rabbit fish.”