Consumers Warned Against Eating Shellfish From Oyster Bay Harbor in Nassau County, New York
August 3, 2012 Kyriaki (Sandy) Venetis Federal and state health officials are warning consumers not to eat raw or partially cooked oysters and clams with tags listing New York’s Oyster Bay Harbor as the harvesting area. This follows reports in several states of a cholera-like illness caused by a bacterium called Vibrio parahaemolyticus.
Bay constables on routine patrol in Oyster Bay Harbor, NY. Photo courtesy of Word News Inc.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says the bacterium “is in the same family as those that cause cholera. It lives in brackish saltwater and causes gastrointestinal illness in humans.” Vibrio naturally inhabits coastal waters in the U.S. and Canada and is present in higher concentrations during the summer.
Vibrio can causes symptoms including watery diarrhea often with abdominal cramping, nausea, vomiting, fever, and chills. Usually these symptoms can begin anywhere from a few hours to as many as five days after eating raw or undercooked shellfish, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.