Public health officials are warning restaurants and retailers not to serve or sell raw oysters potentially contaminated and linked to a norovirus outbreak that has sickened at least 91 people in more than a dozen U.S. states and 279 more in Canada.
Norovirus is a disease that can cause gastrointestinal upset, body aches, and dehydration.
The FDA said Wednesday that oysters from parts of Baynes Sound in British Columbia that were harvested in January were distributed to restaurants and retailers across the United States, including California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey. , Nevada, New York, Oregon, Texas and Washington.
At least 91 cases of norovirus have been reported in those 13 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most of the ill people reported eating raw oysters when interviewed by state and local public health officials, the CDC noted.
“The United States Food and Drug Administration, along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Public Health Agency of Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, and state and local partners are investigating an outbreak multistate norovirus illness linked to raw oysters,” the statement read.
Restaurants should avoid selling the oysters and should “dispose of any product by throwing it in the trash or returning it to its distributor for destruction,” the FDA said.
Canadian public health officials say there have been 279 cases of norovirus and gastrointestinal illness linked to oysters from British Columbia in that province, as well as in Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan. Those affected fell ill between mid-January and the end of last month. No deaths were reported.
Oysters can cause illness if eaten raw, especially in people with compromised immune systems. Food contaminated with norovirus may look, smell, and taste normal.
Norovirus infects and makes people sick 12 to 48 hours after exposure, and symptoms include diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, stomach pain, fever, headache, and body aches. Most people recover without treatment, but in some people—the very young, the elderly, and those with weakened immune systems—norovirus infection can cause severe dehydration and even death.
Norovirus is the leading cause of foodborne illness in the United States, with about 2,500 outbreaks reported each year. Beyond consuming contaminated food or water, people can get norovirus from other infected people or by touching contaminated surfaces and putting unwashed hands in their mouths.
Norovirus is sometimes called the stomach flu, even though the illness is not related to the flu, which is caused by the influenza virus.
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