If you eat raw shellfish you are asking for trouble. I know, I know. There are people who love rawbars and think nothing is better than letting a raw oyster slide down their gullet. The FDA is warning consumers and retailers nationwide, though, that they might love nothing less that what could happen if they eat oysters recently harvested near Port Sulphur, Louisiana from an oyster bed known as Area 7. Not that if you do it will likely kill you. But you might wish it would, because these oysters are suspected in an outbreak of norovirus.
We've dealt with norovirus here (and in real life) a couple of times already (here, here, here). My daughter had it and now is phobic about it. What's worse, she works in a hospital where norovirus periodically marches through the geriatric ward and she's a geri-psych social worker. The symptoms of norovirus are nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps and diarrhea, but that hardly describes how unbelievably miserable it is. It's over in a day or two or sometimes as much as three, so it's self-limiting, but those will be very long days or two or three. And many people feel exhausted for days after they stop vomiting.
It is also extremely contagious and it's very hard to get rid of it once it strikes an in institutional setting. It's not clear if this is because it is unusually hardy in the environment (it's a virus so it doesn't grow except in living cells, but it might remain in a state in the environment where it can replicate once it finds a living cell) or whether it's because people who have recovered clinically are still shedding virus and infecting others. Or something else. But washing cruise ships down with bleach hasn't done the trick, so it's a tough little bastard. So I wonder if my not eating oysters would be enough to protect me if I went to a restaurant where the oysters could cross contaminate other foods eaten raw (like a salad) or very lightly cooked, or perhaps find a post illness home in a cook or waitstaff. The virus may have been in oysters originally but they are quite capable of finding a human biorector to grow in.
The state of Louisiana closed the area to harvesting early in March, although they seem to be open again. My daughter and her family were just here, the 2 little ones cavorting happily, son-in-law chatting on about computers. I decided not to tell my daughter about the oysters. She'd as soon eat a raw oyster as eat a pile of cow manure, but just mentioning the word norovirus sends her into spasms of fear and loathing.
If you've ever had it, you'll sympathize.
Medicine & Health
Comments
I've drastically cut back on eating salads because of the norovirus outbreaks associated with raw greens for the same reason.
Posted by: military wife | March 29, 2010 11:47 AM
I stay away from raw oysters on account of vibriosis (and the fact that they have the texture of snot), but I did get the memo about this particular norovirus outbreak.
In my experience investigate foodborne outbreaks, the lion's share of noro is spread person to person. We do find food vehicles (in the past we've implicated pastries, muffins, salads, fresh fruit and meat & cheese platters), but for most part, somebody brought it to the party. When we report back to the victims, they often refuse to believe it wasn't the food.
Whatever the case, raw oysters are bad news, and norovirus is worse news.
Posted by: Rogue Epidemiologist | March 30, 2010 6:05 PM
I want to ask an ignorant question on this--how does norovirus differ in symptoms and in composition, if it does, from what has for years been known as "tummy flu" or "24-hour virus"?
Posted by: Paula | March 31, 2010 3:37 AM
Paula: It's a specific virus (a calicivirus) but the symptoms are pretty much the same as "stomach flu." But it is really, really miserable. It probably makes up a good proportion of things usually known as stomach flu.
Posted by: revere | March 31, 2010 7:34 AM
Really, really miserable is right. I'd take a month long flu over two days of norovirus any day.
For whatever reason, I seem to be particularly susceptible to norovirus- if it's going around, I will get it, and no amount of hand washing and sanitizing (which I do obsessively when people around me aren't sick) will prevent it.
Posted by: Erin R | April 1, 2010 2:02 AM