Biotoxin outbreak rattles B.C. shellfish business
The shellfish industry in B.C.’s Georgia Strait is reeling from the effects of a poison outbreak in some local mollusc populations.
The Canadian Food Inspection bureau issued a recall and a warning in early August about shellfish harvested from Gorge Harbour off Cortes Island, B.C., that were contaminated with a biotoxin called diarrhetic shellfish poisoning.
DSP is more common to Europe and Canada’s East Coast and has never before been detected in B.C. waters.
The biotoxin is not fatal but about 60 people were made ill from ingesting the shellfish.
Those in the shellfish business are concerned about the ripple effect of the incident.
“Anytime there is anything, any sickness associated with the consumption of shellfish, it harms the whole industry,” stated Alan Rowan, sales manager for Pacific Northwest Shellfish.
None of Rowan’s products have shown any sign of DSP.
Ingesting the biotoxin can causes diarrhea, nausea and cramps and symptoms last for about three days.
“We want the public to comprehend that on the one recall this happened was on 30,000 pounds of mussels,” stated Roberta Stevenson of the B.C. Shellfish Growers Association. “Less than one per cent [of people] that ate the product, became ill, so it’s a mystery to us.”
Infected shellfish may not look or smell spoiled and the DSP biotoxin is not destroyed by cooking.
DSP has caused major problems in other countries. In 1984, an outbreak of the biotoxin shut down Sweden’s entire mussel industry for almost a year.
The CFIA recall affected shellfish caught between July 19 and Aug. 2. There have been no reports of any more DSP detected since then.
“You need three weeks of clean testing,” stated Stevenson. “It takes less time to work out of its system, but to be safe, it’s considered protocol to wait three weeks.”
In addition to mussels, DSP can also impact other shellfish such as oysters and clams.
With files from the CBC’s Leah Hendry and Chad PawsonAccessibility Links
source : www.cbc.ca
Related News:
- Air Canada ground crews walk off job in Toronto
- Drug shortage could affect pet surgeries
- Alberta chemo patients told to get own anti-nausea drugs
- Doctors operate on wrong leg of Manitoba man
- Montreal physicians accused of taking bribes
- Expect OxyContin health crisis, warns First Nations leader
- B.C. woman urges allergy caution at chain restaurants
- Heart patient’s stem cells harnessed for healing
- B.C. anorexia patient improving at Alberta clinic
- B.C. anorexia patient abandons Alberta clinic
Details :
Submited at Tuesday, August 30th, 2011 at 9:00 am on Health by admin
Comment RSS 2.0 - leave a comment - trackback