The B.C. Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) has just issued a warning about potentially contaminated shellfish.
If you’re eating any shellfish this summer, you may want to be extra careful as they may contain harmful toxins, leading to serious and possibly life-threatening illnesses.
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Shellfish Warning in B.C.
According to the BCCDC, as temperatures rise in the warm summer months, coastal waters allow microorganisms to accumulate even more in shellfish. They’re often found in commonly-eaten shellfish like crab, oysters, scallops, and mussels. Other species that feed on plankton, including cockles, whelks, prawns, and squid can be similarly affected.
Consuming contaminated shellfish can lead to serious illness, such as diarrhetic shellfish poisoning, paralytic shellfish poisoning, and amnesic shellfish poisoning.
These contaminated shellfish cannot be made safe to eat by cooking, unfortunately. Symptoms can present within minutes to hours after eating the contaminated shellfish, but they can also show up around 24 to 48 hours later.
How Do I Avoid Contaminated Shellfish?
The BCCDC has a handy online shellfish harvesting status map, which helps identify harvesting closures in your area.
“This map was originally designed to help users determine if a location is open or closed to shellfish harvesting due to biotoxin, sanitary, or chemical contamination or restricted for other reasons,” notes the webpage.
If you believe you’ve eaten contaminated shellfish and are experiencing symptoms like numbness, tingling that spreads beyond the lips, increasing weakness, or difficulty walking or swallowing, BCCDC advises you to visit the nearest emergency room or call 911.
