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Distributors, retailers, restaurants and consumers have been advised not to ship, sell or eat oysters harvested from that Hood Canal area from Aug. 30 to Sept. 19, according to a state Department of Health advisory.
About 50,000 whole oysters from the suspect growing area were shipped to 22 states and four other countries during the three-week period, department of health spokeswoman Julie Graham said. There are 25 commercial growing operations in the affected area, she said.
State health officials order a recall when two or more cases of vibriosis are linked to oysters from a growing area. Typically, state health officials receive reports of about 50 cases of vibriosis per year.
The state department does not physically recover the suspect oysters, Graham said. Its up to everyone who comes in contact with them to dispose of them.
Vibrio parahaemolyticus bacteria are found naturally in the environment. When water temperature rises, the bacteria can suddenly grow to levels that cause illness.
Symptoms of vibriosis include diarrhea, abdominal cramps, nausea, headache, fever and chills, appearing usually within 12 hours of eating infected shellfish. The illness usually passes in two to seven days, but the illness in people with weak immune systems or chronic liver disease can be more serious, even life-threatening.
Cooking oysters to an internal temperature of 145 degrees Fahrenheit kills the bacteria, according to food-safety specialists.
More information, including maps of the affected areas, is available at the state agency’s shellfish safety website www.doh.wa.gov/ehp/sf/default-sf.htm.
John Dodge: 360-754-5444
jdodge@theolympian.com
