Symptoms include facial flushing and sweating, burning peppery-taste sensations, dizziness, nausea, headache, and possibly abdominal cramps and short-term diarrhoea. "Symptoms usually last four to six hours and rarely exceed one to two days,'' according to the FDA.

It is most commonly found in the Scombridae family of fish (tuna and mackerels) but also seen in relatives such as Mahi-Mahi, bluefish, dolphin and amberjacks.

It is one of the top four reported seafood-borne illnesses in the United States.

Scombroid-affected fish produce toxic levels of histamine due to contamination. The contamination is believed to occur during early handling of the fish.