The Washington State Department of Health reports that 18 people have been sickened with Vibrio parahaemolyticus after eating raw oysters linked to commercial operations and four illnesses to recreational harvesting in Puget Sound and on the Washington coast.

Cooking shellfish thoroughly will prevent vibriosis illness and is always a good idea. This is especially important during the summer months of July and August when warm temperatures and low tides along ocean beaches and in Puget Sound allow the bacteria to thrive.

If you harvest oysters recreationally this summer, follow these steps to avoid vibriosis:?
• Put oysters on ice or refrigerate them as soon as possible after harvest.
• If a receding tide has exposed oysters for a long time, don’t harvest them.
• Always cook oysters thoroughly. Cooking oysters at 145° F for 15 seconds destroys vibrio bacteria. Rinsing fully-cooked oysters with seawater can recontaminate them.

For commercial harvesters, special control measures are in place from May through September to keep people from getting sick if they eat raw oysters.

Guess those special measures didn’t work this time.