3 dead, 16 sick from Vibrio in Florida

Posted on August 23, 2014 by Douglas Powell

A newly reported Vibrio vulnificus case in Charlotte County, Florida, the county’s third case, brings the states total to 16, according to the latest numbers released from the Florida Department of Health today.

The total number of fatalities reported in the state remains unchanged at three.

People can get infected with Vibrio vulnificus when they eat raw shellfish, particularly oysters. The bacterium is frequently isolated from oysters and other shellfish in warm coastal waters during the summer months. Since it is naturally found in warm marine waters, people with open wounds can be exposed to Vibrio vulnificus through direct contact with seawater. There is no evidence of person-to-person transmission of Vibrio vulnificus.

Vibrio vulnificus is a rare cause of disease, but it is also underreported. Between 1988 and 2006, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) received reports of more than 900 Vibrio vulnificus infections from the Gulf Coast states, where most cases occur. In 2013, Florida reported a total of 41 V. vulnificus cases, including 12 deaths.

6 sick with Norovirus; consumers warned not to eat oysters from Copano Bay in Texas

Posted on January 18, 2014 by Douglas Powell

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers not to eat raw or partially cooked oysters harvested from Copano Bay, in Aransas County, Texas, harvested between Dec. 26, 2013 and Jan. 9, 2014.

Oysters harvested from Copano Bay, Texas, on Dec. 26, 2013, and then shipped by Alby’s Seafood of Fulton, Texas, have been linked to six norovirus illnesses in Louisiana. The Texas Department of State Health Services closed Copano Bay to shellfish harvesting on Jan. 9, 2014.

The FDA is warning consumers not to eat raw or partially cooked shellfish from Copano Bay, in Aransas County, Texas, harvested between Dec. 26, 2013 and Jan. 9, 2014. Alby’s Seafood has issued a recall of the oysters harvested on Dec. 26; however, other shellfish harvested from Copano Bay before it was closed may still be in the marketplace. All shellfish dealers, restaurants, retail food establishments and consumers are advised to check the identity tags on all containers of shellfish in their inventories. If the tag indicates the shellfish were harvested from Copano Bay between Dec. 26, 2013 and Jan. 9, 2014 the product should be disposed of and should not be sold, served or eaten.

Why I don’t eat raw: Increase in Vibrio parahaemolyticus illnesses associated with consumption of shellfish from several Atlantic coast harvest areas, United States, 2013

Posted on December 18, 2013 by Douglas Powell

There has been an increase in vibriosis in the U.S. since May 2013.

As of September 30, 104 cases of a specific strain in 13 states with 6 hospitalizations and no deaths were reported to CDC.

Vibrio bacteria live in saltwater. People can get vibriosis after eating raw or undercooked shellfish, particularly oysters. Several species of Vibrio, including Vibrio parahaemolyticus, can cause illness.

There has been an increase in infections caused by a specific strain of Vibrio parahaemolyticus.

These infections occurred among people who, in the week before they became ill, ate raw oysters or raw clams harvested along the Atlantic Coast.

Before 2012, Vibrio parahaemolyticus infections of this strain were rarely associated with shellfish from the Atlantic coast.

Symptoms typically consist of mild to moderate diarrhea, but can sometimes be severe, especially if the bacteria enter the bloodstream.

‘Oysters have to be alive or you’ll get food poisoning’ Porn trumps microbiology again

Posted on June 5, 2013 by Douglas Powell

Everything I know about Germany I learned from South Park’s portrayal of Cartman’s mom and her involvement with scheisse porn.

I gave an invited talk in Berlin about 15 years ago; my parents advised that German’s have no sense of humor; I ignored them. I failed.

Hwan Nam-kong of Furusato, a Korean restaurant in Berlin says “The fact that it is still alive on the plate is a sign of quality.”

World Crunch is talking about octopus moving around on the plate on its tentacles. The cook swiftly grabs it by its slimy head, pushes a skewer through the tentacles, wraps them around it – and voila, the Korean delicacy known as sannakji, served with chili sauce or a sesame oil and salt dip.

However, eating moving tentacles is not without danger: they can fix themselves to the inside of your mouth – or worse your throat – which could lead to suffocation and death. So if you order the dish in Korea make sure to chew well, advises Hwan Nam-kong. In her Berlin establishment, octopus is not served this way for the simple reason that it’s difficult to get live octopus in Germany.

She has heard that Germans believe that eating living things is a form of animal torture. “Every country has its own food culture that should be accepted by other cultures,” she says.

Koki Umesaka, a chef at Berlin’s Daruma Japanese restaurant, explains that with ikizukuri, a fish is served with its eyes, gills and mouth still moving. That’s not easy, he says. It requires a special technique, and a very sharp knife. Only very experienced chefs know how to do this, he says.

A similar side effect is attributed to another living food you can easily find in Germany – oysters. Greek mythology has it that Aphrodite, goddess of love, sprang from an oyster. Famed Italian seducer Casanova is said to have eaten oysters to maximize his staying power, according to Guillaume Boullay of the Austern Restaurant Meerweinin Hamburg.

If you eat raw oysters they have to be alive, otherwise you may get food poisoning, he says. The way to recognize a living oyster is by its shell clamped tightly shut, and the smell of fresh iodine when you pry it open with an oyster knife. You can also tell by the way the oyster inside moves if you touch it with the tip of the knife or squirt lemon juice on it.

I’ll continue to grill any oyster. My liver wouldn’t like Vibrio.

240 sick; broken pipe lead to sewage being dumped in oyster bed causing norovirus outbreak, not a person pooping over his boat

Posted on April 5, 2013 by Douglas Powell

In another installment of this is why we cook seafood at my house, 240 people have been sickened in three Australian states after consuming oysters with norovirus.

The contamination was caused by a broken sewerage pipe on a private property in Dunalley which leaked human waste into waters used by an oyster farm.

According to media reports, it was the second incidence of contaminated oysters in southern Tasmania in a week, but health authorities say the two cases are a coincidence.

Retailer recalls oysters in Belgium amid norovirus concerns

Posted on February 13, 2013 by Douglas Powell

Supermarket chain Carrefour has recalled oysters marketed under its own brand as well as the Cultimer brand after testing positive for norovirus.

The supermarket chain urges customers who ate ‘Normandy oysters’ and who display symptoms of vomiting, diarrhea and/or a temperature to see their doctor.

Climate change responsible for increase in vibriosis?

Posted on February 11, 2013 by Douglas Powell

Rob Mancini writes:

My wife and I decided to visit France and spend some time with her lovely relatives. We were treated like gold, they really like Canadians. The scenery, the wine, cheese and the company was unsurpassed. As a treat one evening we caught some fresh oysters, shucked them, and ate them with a dash of lemon juice. This was followed with some great beer and local wine. I have never been a fan of oysters because of the slimy texture and the risk of Vibrio spp. but had to try it and none of us became ill. A couple vacationing in Panama City wasn’t as lucky. The Huffington Post reports :

Forty-year-old Darrell Dishon wasn’t an oyster fan. Before June of 2009, he’d never even tried one. So when his wife Nicole proposed splitting a dozen raw shellfish at a restaurant in Panama City, Fla., where the two were vacationing, he was leery.

Nicole remembers eating 10. She says Darrell ate two.

The doctors delivered the awful news that he had contracted a form of vibriosis, one of the most deadly foodborne illnesses in the world. Over the following weeks, Darrell’s health continued to decline. He developed life-threatening septicemia. His doctors amputated both his legs above the knee in an effort to stop the spread. In December, Darrell Dishon became one of the approximately 15 people each year who succumb to vibriosis after eating raw oysters. Vibriosis is an incredibly rare disease — but Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data show that it’s getting more common.

“While all the other pathogens have shown a nice decline, the vibrios are about twice what it was since 1998. In a little over a decade, incidence has doubled. They’re still relatively small numbers — but it’s a very striking increase,” leading vibrio researcher Glenn Morris of the University of Florida’s Emerging Pathogens Institute told The Huffington Post.

Vibrio thrive in warm water. One widely publicized study published in July 2012 indicated that a 1-degree increase in the temperature of a body of water triples its vibrio population. For that reason, many scientists believe that climate change has contributed to the recent rise in vibriosis, and that it could make vibrio bacteria much more prevalent in coming years.

The culprit was Vibrio vulnificans, a bacterium in the same family as those that cause cholera. The bacterium causes fever, diarrhea, abdominal cramps, nausea, and vomiting, and often death. Cook shellfish thoroughly (63°C; 145°F) to avoid infection.

Operation Trident: crackdown on Australian black market oyster trade

Posted on December 27, 2012 by Douglas Powell

There will be a crackdown on black market oysters in the Australian state of New South Wales, and consumers are being warned to avoid stolen seafood this festive period.

Department of Primary Industries director of compliance Glenn Tritton said Operation Trident was designed to deter oyster theft and protect consumers against unsafe black market produce during the festive season.

“Operation Trident is a multi-phase operation targeting all facets of illegal seafood theft – from on the water to ending up either being sold illegally in pubs, on plates in restaurants and even on the dinner table in your own home,” Mr Tritton said.

“Expert DPI fisheries officers work in conjunction with the NSW Authority and NSW Police, and in consultation with NSW Farmers, during this peak season for seafood and oyster consumption.

“The high-tech operation includes ongoing covert and overt operations up and down the NSW coast that aim to break up the black market which is responsible for ripping off hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of oysters across NSW each year.”

NSW Food Authority’s chief scientist Dr Lisa Szabo said the black market oyster trade not only impacted the livelihood of primary producers, but could pose a health risk to consumers as well.

“Stolen oysters might not come from an area covered by the NSW Shellfish Program,” Dr Szabo said.

“Only buy oysters from reputable retailers as these oysters have been monitored for their safety.

“Most illegal seafood is stored in the backs of unrefrigerated trucks.

“We strongly advise against anyone consuming seafood if they don’t know where it has come from.”

3 sick; raw oysters linked to outbreak of Vibrio in Calif

Posted on August 11, 2012 by Douglas Powell

Oysters from the Drakes Bay Oyster Co. in Marin County, California, have been linked to an outbreak of Vibrio parahaemolyticus that has sickened at least three people.

KTVU reports the company is conducting a voluntary recall of the affected oysters, which include shucked oysters in 9 ounce, 1 pint, 1 quart and half-gallon jars and tubs, lot Nos. 363 through 421.

Affected in-shell oysters are sold individually or in bags sized from 1 dozen to 10 dozen, and marked with harvest tags between July 17 and Aug. 8.

Anyone in possession of the affected oysters should throw them away immediately, health department officials said.

Raw oyster risk: norovirus infections associated with frozen raw oysters

Posted on March 31, 2012 by Douglas Powell

Oysters from Australian waters are a delight on the grill, although I’ve graduated to scallops on the half-shell, also grilled.

But whenever I go see Paul the fish monger, he’s offering me a sample of his wares – raw – and I politely decline.

Or, as Dr. Ken Buckle, professor emeritus at the University of New South Wales commented when our hosts took us to a seafood buffet in Abu Dhabi, I spent too much time researching pathogens in raw fish.

He chose the cooked kind.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control recently described a norovirus outbreak in frozen raw oysters in Seattle imported from South Korea.

On October 19, 2011, Public Health – Seattle & King County was contacted regarding a woman who had experienced acute gastroenteritis after dining at a local restaurant with friends. Staff members interviewed the diners and confirmed that three of the seven in the party had consumed a raw oyster dish.

Within 18–36 hours after consumption, the three had onsets of aches, nausea, and nonbloody diarrhea lasting 24–48 hours. One ill diner also reported vomiting. The four diners who had not eaten the raw oysters did not become ill.

An inspection of a walk-in freezer at the restaurant revealed eight 3-pound bags of frozen raw oysters, which the restaurant indicated had been an ingredient of the dish consumed by the ill diners. The oysters had been imported from South Korea by company A and shipped to a local vendor, which sold them to the restaurant. All eight bags were sent to the Food and Drug Administration’s Gulf Coast Seafood Laboratory for norovirus testing and characterization by real-time reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR).

A stool specimen from one of two ill diners collected 17 days after symptom onset tested positive for norovirus; sequence analysis identified GI.1 and GII.17 strains. Sequence analysis of the oysters identified a GII.3 strain. Because oysters can harbor multiple norovirus strains that are unequally amplified by rRT-PCR, discordance between stool specimens and food samples in shellfish-associated norovirus outbreaks is common and does not rule out an association. On November 4, 2011, company A recalled its frozen raw oysters.

The frozen oysters implicated in this outbreak were distributed internationally and had a 2-year shelf-life. Contamination of similar products has been implicated previously in international norovirus transmissions. Such contamination has potential for exposing persons widely dispersed in space and time, making cases difficult to identify or link through traditional complaint-based surveillance.

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