State Orders Mussel Quarantine
State Health Director Kenneth Kizer issued an immediate quarantine Friday on sport-harvested mussels from Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties.
Kizer took the action after toxic algae was found during routine checks. The algae produces a toxin that causes paralytic shellfish poisoning.
Eating toxin-contaminated mussels may lead to acute disturbance of a person’s central nervous system within a few minutes to a few hours.
Symptoms begin with tingling and numbness of the lips, tongue and finger tips. This is followed by disturbed balance, lack of muscle coordination, slurred speech and difficulty swallowing.
Severe poisoning can cause muscle paralysis and death from asphyxiation.
There is no known antidote to the poison and cooking does not destroy it.
The quarantine applies only to sport-harvested mussels and not to fish, abalone, crab or shrimp.
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