Foodborne illness contracted from eating seafood, in particular fish, frequently occurs in coastal areas of the author's home country of Vietnam. In July 2020, two separate incidents of food poisoning were reported in a coastal district, caused by eating red snapper caught in coastal areas. The 23 victims were hospitalized with symptoms of fatigue, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, arrhythmia, and bradycardia.
According to a report from the Administration for Food Safety and Hygiene Department, which is part of the Ministry of Health, an ensuing investigation showed that consumption of red snapper had led to the foodborne illness cases. The investigation team took samples, including two uneaten slices of fish from the patients' houses (comprising approximately 200 grams) and one whole red snapper weighing 2,500 grams. The fish samples were frozen and sent to the Institute of Oceanography to definitively identify the fish species and check for ciguatera toxin (ciguatoxin) on the samples.