Recall ordered for some Apalachicola Bay oysters

Recall ordered for some Apalachicola Bay oysters

www.nwfdailynews.com

At least 11 people were sickened from eating raw or lightly steamed oysters harvested from a section of Apalachicola Bay between March 21 and April 6. None of them required hospitalization.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday that it has been asking harvesters and suppliers to recall any oysters from that area of the bay.

A few weeks ago suppliers came to Sexton’s Seafood in Destin to collect oysters that were harvested in that area, said an employee who declined to give her name.

She said no one at the business could remember any other oyster recalls in the past

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I saw this come across my desk at work today, and I couldn't believe it. Apparently a certain strain of Cholera is infecting Apalachicola Bay Oysters. This is right in my backyard! There have been 17 cases in the past 11 years, until this April. Since April of this year there have been 8 new cases!!

In my opinion, this has to be related to the BP oil spill. Local authorities are blaming it on dredging, or on a local sewage spills, but those are regular occurences. This Cholera outbreak is very, very uncommon.

Combine it with the unhealthy fish showing up in Pensacola, and the Dolphin deaths in Mobile, and all of the other sealife problems, and I think it is clear the effects of the oil are becoming more and more apparent.

www.nwfdailynews.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Found some more informative sources

ISSC article

The Florida Department of Health has been investigating cases of toxin producing Vibrio Cholera 075. Between March 23 and April 13 seven residents of Florida presented with nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and other gastrointestinal symptoms from six different counties across the state after consuming raw or lightly cooked oysters. The cases were confirmed by Florida State laboratory and CDC to be toxin producing Vibrio Cholera 075 . One Lake County case dined on Oysters from the Apalachicola Bay area 1642 on April 9. Two cases from Nassau dined together on April 10 on oysters self reported to be harvested from Apalachicola Bay but no tags were available. The other interviewed cases ate on Ma21, April 6, April 11 and self reported, the oysters were all from Apalachicola Bay but no tags were available. One case in Washington reported that the oysters were recreationally harvested but refused to provide any further information. Nationally there are cases of 075 reported from Indiana and Georgia that may also have Florida oyster connections.

I know of a couple of people that got inexplicably sick this past weekend. I plan to call them and see if they ate any oysters prior to their sickness.

I also have a couple of friends that run oyster bars, and they have worried that if this year has business anywhere near as poor as last year, they will have to close down. One of them had a recent news article in the local paper saying the same thing. BP is so far refusing to pay their claims for lost business.

I fear this Oyster recall will be the end of their businesses.

BP only has to continue avoiding their responsibilities until the economy completely lets go. It's sad because the gulf has offered man so much and it's been ruined.

reply to post by starshift


BP isn't even paying the state, counties, or local govts their money! They put out all that press about doing the right thing, and now, just as expected, they are playing hardball with their claims. They are asking for documentation and proof. How does one prove that their oyster sales are 30% of normal years? Sure, they show prior year numbers, but then BP says it is caused by the recession and gas prices, not the spill.

Originally posted by getreadyalready


I saw this come across my desk at work today, and I couldn't believe it. Apparently a certain strain of Cholera is infecting Apalachicola Bay Oysters. This is right in my backyard! There have been 17 cases in the past 11 years, until this April. Since April of this year there have been 8 new cases!!

In my opinion, this has to be related to the BP oil spill. Local authorities are blaming it on dredging, or on a local sewage spills, but those are regular occurences. This Cholera outbreak is very, very uncommon.

Combine it with the unhealthy fish showing up in Pensacola, and the Dolphin deaths in Mobile, and all of the other sealife problems, and I think it is clear the effects of the oil are becoming more and more apparent.

www.nwfdailynews.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Just reading about this makes me sick. I feel this is related to the BP spill. These BP #*%&# used toxic Corexit when they had non-toxic oil dispersants available. But of course, BP owns the people who make Corexit. They have no core decency or shame.

My heart goes out to the people who have had their way of life destroyed. The poor sea creatures too. God only knows when the GOM will recover, if in our lifetimes even.

What leads any of you to believe that the BP !!OIL!! spill is leading to !!CHOLERA!! being found in oysters in the Apalachicola Bay? Anyone? Anyone?


Thanks for the heads up GetReadyAlready.

reply to post by beaverg


I admit it is a stretch to relate Cholera to Oil. However, sewage spills are very common along the coast. So common that I have a hard time believing they are accidental. I think the little island communities and home-owner's associations just dump the stuff every now and then to save a few bucks. Anyhow, the sewage is a common occurrence. Dredging operations are on-going daily. There is always something being dredged. So, I don't believe either of those things has led to the Cholera.

In my opinion, the sea-life is stressed and unhealthy from the oil and dispersants. Cholera is naturally occurring in the waters here. Maybe the oysters and other fish normally have an immunity that wipes it out? Maybe there is normally some other bacteria that naturally keeps the Cholera in check? The unhealthy situation in the Gulf has caused an imbalance and let the Cholera grow and get passed on through the food chain?

It is not a direct cause and effect situation, but in my opinion it is one of the many ripples from the oil spill that we will be feeling for the next couple of decades.

So the infected oyster beds are set to reopen today, but at the same time the FDA is advising people not to buy, sell, or eat oysters from Apalachicola Bay.

Fast Facts
• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is advising consumers, restaurant operators, commercial shippers and processors of shellfish not to eat, serve, purchase, sell or ship oysters from Area 1642 in Apalachicola Bay, Fla. because the oysters may be contaminated with toxigenic Vibrio cholerae serogroup O75.

Source

The economy along the coast is already on thin ice. If people are advised to not eat the seafood, it could be catastrophic. Florida's coasts cannot afford another year like last year.

Originally posted by beaverg
What leads any of you to believe that the BP !!OIL!! spill is leading to !!CHOLERA!! being found in oysters in the Apalachicola Bay? Anyone? Anyone?

Aside from the fact that the connection between the oil spill and the cholera outbreak was in the OP, I don't think it's a stretch at all.

The poisons in the water from the oil spill have weakened the health of all that live in those waters. This weakened state in turn makes the sea life susceptible to diseases -- that in their normal healthy state they would have been able to fend off.

The GC economy was hard hit by the spill. Many small businesses, that depend on summer income to make it through the year, did not survive. I feel for the people there. They do not need another blow.