CDC Warns Against Eating Raw Shellfish

Federal health officials Thursday warned Americans to avoid eating raw shellfish and urged restaurant workers to wear gloves to help combat an upsurge in the liver disease hepatitis A.

The Centers for Disease Control reported a 58% increase over six years in the feces-transmitted form of the viral infection, which rarely causes death but can lead to prolonged illness.

During the years of the increase--1983, when 9.2 cases per 100,000 people were reported, to 1989, when 14.5 cases per 100,000 were cited--7.3% of the cases were attributed to transmission through food-handling or shellfish, the CDC said.

The other 92.7% of the cases were among people who had close contact with carriers of the disease--drug users, people in day-care settings and international travelers, said Miriam Alter, a CDC epidemiologist.

There are about 34,000 cases of hepatitis A each year in the United States. The disease can cause mild fever, fatigue, sore muscles, headache, abdominal pain and upset stomach. There is no treatment.

Restaurant workers and consumers of shellfish taken from waters contaminated with feces can protect themselves and others against the disease by wearing gloves and cooking the shellfish, Alter said.