- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says consumers should avoid eating seafood from Oregon and Washington because it may be contaminated with toxins that cause paralytic seafood poisoning. sea.
- Oregon and Washington have banned shellfish harvesting on their coasts, but the shellfish have already been distributed across the country.
- So far, at least 31 people have been sickened by paralytic seafood poisoning.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says consumers should avoid eating seafood from Oregon and Washington because it may be contaminated with toxins that cause paralytic seafood poisoning. Wed. So far, at least 31 people have been sickened in Oregon, according to state health officials. Here’s what you need to know about the federal agency’s notice.
What has the FDA said about shellfish?
The warning recommends avoiding oysters and clams harvested from Netarts and Tillamook bays in northern Oregon since May 28, as well as shellfish harvested from areas around Willapa Bay in the south in Washington State since May 26. , or PSP, a natural toxin produced by algae.
Shells collected from these areas during this period were distributed beyond Oregon and Washington to Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, and New York. The FDA has warned restaurants and retailers in those states not to serve it.
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What do we know so far about the seafood poisoning epidemic?
High levels of the toxins were first detected in shellfish on the Oregon coast on May 17, state fish and wildlife officials said.
Since then, an outbreak of paralytic seafood poisoning has sickened at least 31 people in Oregon, according to the Oregon Health Authority. The agency asked people who have harvested or eaten Oregon shellfish since May 13 to complete a survey intended to help investigators identify the cause of the outbreak and the number of people sickened.
Oregon officials have closed the entire state coastline to the harvest of mussels, razor clams and clams. Agriculture officials also closed three bays, including those mentioned in the FDA advisory, to commercial oyster harvesting.
Year-old grasses and oysters, growing on the large “mother” shells planted throughout the bed, are seen at low tide May 1, 2015, in Willapa Bay near Tokeland, Washington. The FDA says consumers should avoid seafood from Oregon and Washington because it may be contaminated with toxins that cause paralytic seafood poisoning. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, file)
Authorities in neighboring Washington state have also closed the state’s Pacific coast to shellfish harvesting, including mussels, clams, scallops and oysters, a shellfish safety map produced by the Washington State Department of Health.
What is paralytic seafood poisoning?
Paralytic seafood poisoning, or PSP, is caused by saxitoxin, a naturally occurring toxin…
