Shellfish-sickness outbreak
Carl Campanile of the New York Post reports that city health officials are investigating an outbreak of food poisoning caused by contaminated shellfish.
Three people were stricken with Vibrio parahaemolyticus bacterial infection after eating shellfish in Manhattan.
Illnesses include diarrhea, abdominal cramps, vomiting, fever and chills.
"Two of the case patients were associated with food-borne outbreaks at two separate events in Manhattan. They reported consuming multiple types of shellfish," Vasudha Reddy of the Health Department's Bureau of Communicable Diseases said in a letter to doctors.
Reddy said a third person ate fish bought from a market in the same neighborhood. He did not name the community or the market. He urged doctors to test for the bacteria if patients exhibit symptoms of gastrointestinal illness.
The most common cause of infection is eating raw or undercooked fish, especially oysters.
Most infections can be prevented by cooking the shellfish.
The bacteria thrives in coastal salt waters.
