September 1, 2013 — On Friday, the state recalled oysters harvested since July 22 and ordered the immediate closure of 40 commercial oyster beds in Plymouth Harbor, Kingston Bay, Duxbury Bay, the Bluefish River and the Back River due to three reports of gastroenteritis caused by the bacterium Vibrio parahaemolyticus. There are commercial oyster farms in Plymouth, Kingston and Duxbury.
Fresh oysters are for slurping and savoring, but the chef at Tosca, the high-end restaurant on Hingham Harbor, had to toss out 400 of them after the state shut down local oyster farms at the start of the Labor Day weekend.
“We sell about 200 or 300 oysters during a typical weekend, and Labor Day is a very busy weekend,” chef Brian Hennebury said Sunday.
The oysters from Island Creek Oysters in Duxbury that Hennebury usually serves may have been among the local oysters state officials say sickened at least three people.
The recall left local restaurants scrambling to find safe oysters for the weekend.
Jessica Warner of Oro in Scituate Harbor said the restaurant normally serves local oysters but has found alternatives.
“We haven’t been able to get them from Duxbury, so we’ve been getting them from the Cape – from Dennis and Wellfleet,” Warner said.
This is the first time a specific harvesting area in Massachusetts has been implicated in a Vibrio outbreak. Outbreaks are typically attributed to higher temperatures and brackish water.
Within 24 hours of ingestion, Vibrio causes diarrhea, vomiting, fever and chills that can last three days. Blood infections occur in about 10 percent of cases.
The three ill people who became infected with Vibrio have recovered, the state Department of Public Health said in a press release.
State authorities are required to take action when shellfish sicken two or more people not from the same household. The state must close the harvest area responsible for an outbreak.
Read the full story at the Patriot Ledger