The health authorities are warning against the consumption of buffer fish products that have reached the markets. The buffer fish has migrated from the Indian Ocean via the Red Sea and the Suez Canal into the waters of the Mediterranean and is an invasive species. It can grow to more than one metre in length. It has been found in coastal waters from Turkey, Syria, Cyprus and Egypt to Gibraltar. The takifugu (fugu) or pufferfish can contain the toxin tetrodotoxin, which it absorbs and accumulates in the food chain via toxic microorganisms. The toxin is heat-resistant and odourless. 

Tetrodotoxin is an extremely strong toxin that is mainly found in the liver and gonads of some fish such as pufferfish, hogfish and toadfish as well as in some amphibian, octopus and shellfish species. Poisoning in humans occurs when the muscle meat of fish is improperly prepared and consumed. Tetrodotoxin interferes with the transmission of signals from the nerves to the muscles and causes progressive muscle paralysis. The symptoms can lead to paralysis, unconsciousness, respiratory arrest and death within a few hours of consumption. There is no antidote.