# Two Clinical Records of Human Injuries with a Death caused by Electric Eels Electrophorus spp. Gill, 1864

## TL;DR

This paper reports two cases of human injuries from electric eels, including one death, highlighting the dangers of their electric shocks.

## Contribution

The novelty lies in documenting a fatal case and measuring cardiac enzyme changes following electric eel shocks.

## Key findings

- A fatal case of drowning due to muscle contracture after an electric eel shock was reported.
- Electric shocks from poraqués caused elevated levels of CPK and CPK-MB in surviving victims.
- Muscle rigidity and cardiac enzyme elevation are potential indicators of electric eel injuries.

## Abstract

Electrical eels, or poraqués or temblones (Electrophorus spp. Gill, 1864), are highly feared animals in the Amazon, mainly because of their electric discharge of up to 860 volts. We report two cases of human injuries caused by electric eels, one of which was fatal. The shocks caused muscle rigidity, and the victim likely drowned because of muscle contracture. Strong electric shocks increase the levels of cardiac enzymes in the blood, as observed with the elevation of total creatine phosphokinase (CPK) and creatine phosphokinase myocardial band (CPK-MB) in surviving victims, which is potentially indicative of injuries caused by poraqués.