There were at least 20 people harvesting mussels on Oregon’s Short Beach this weekend who were seriously poisoned after eating them. Health officials have asked residents to immediately throw away any molluscs they have left.
These twenty individuals were affected by paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP), a sometimes fatal foodborne illness that occurs when someone eats a certain naturally occurring marine biotoxin produced by algae.
Symptoms of PSP – which occur within 30 to 60 minutes after consuming the contaminated shellfish – include numbness of the mouth and lips, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and weakness, according to an announcement from the Oregon Health Authority.
In severe cases, patients may experience shortness of breath or an irregular heartbeat, and in those cases these people may need a ventilator until the poison is flushed from their system, according to the The Washington State Department of Health.
Some of the 20 people who received PSP were hospitalized, but no one died.
Pictured: Short Beach in Tillamook County, Oregon, where at least 20 people suffered paralyzing shellfish poisoning, a potentially fatal foodborne illness. This beach is located about 80 miles west of Portland
Pictured: Seal Rock State Park in Oregon. This is the southernmost point of the beach closure initiated by government officials due to elevated PSP levels in mussels
A spokesperson for the Oregon Health Authority told DailyMail.com that more people may have been infected than the first 20 reported.
Pending additional investigation, the agency will update the case numbers later this week.
State officials first detected high concentrations of PSP in Oregon waters last Thursday. That same day, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Oregon Department of Agriculture jointly agreed to close a portion of the coastline stretching as far south as Seal Rock State Park and as north as Cape Lookout.
Unfortunately, the people who became ill were fishing for mussels off the coast of Short Beach, an area about 20 kilometers north of the closure zone, on Saturday and Sunday.
On Sunday, officials responded to the surge in PSP cases by expanding the shutdown beyond the Washington state border.
“The agencies have indicated that they are planning additional testing to determine if the threat of PSP still exists,” the Oregon Health Authority said in a statement to DailyMail.com.
Emilio DeBess, an epidemiologist with the Oregon Public Health Division, told Oregonians to immediately throw away any mussels they brought home.
“If you have been collecting mussels since Saturday from beaches in the coastal area that ODFW and ODA have closed for harvest – and are preparing them for a meal or storing in the freezer for a later time – throw them away now and feed them not. against pets,” DeBess said.
This map shows the exact portion of the coastline that is closed to mussel harvesting. The closure extends beyond the Washington border, but it is not clear how far
Cape Lookout, pictured, was previously the northernmost point of the PSP beach closure, but when mussel fishermen north of this point became sick, state officials extended the closure into Washington state.
This is because the poison that causes PSP does not die after it is cooked or frozen.
DeBess added that her recommendations do not extend to commercially caught mussels available in grocery stores, stating that they are safe to eat.
PSP is the most common form of foodborne illness found in shellfish and is also the most serious, officials said.
The disease can be found anywhere in the world, but is most common along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of North America, according to the news release.
Although this outbreak occurred specifically in mussels, PSP may be present in scallops, clams, oysters and clams, as well as some fish and crabs, according to the CDC.
Officials also emphasized that there is no antidote or cure for PSP, which only makes it more imperative that those who feel symptoms go to the doctor or call emergency services.