SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) — The California Department of Public Health has issued a warning to not eat raw oysters from British Columbia, as the seafood delicacy may be connected to a series of norovirus outbreaks in California.
Multiple growing regions in British Columbia have been closed for sanitary contamination while Canadian officials investigate the source of norovirus.
In California, at least 34 people have fallen ill after eating oysters from nine restaurants throughout the state. The first case was reported on March 11.
"Eating contaminated shellfish can make you very sick. It can even be life threatening. Cooking shellfish does not destroy all biotoxins," the Government of Canada warned in a statement. "When an area is officially 'closed,' it is both illegal and unsafe to harvest shellfish from that area."
Illnesses associated with oysters from British Columbia have also been reported in other states. Canada has reported 279 cases of norovirus and gastrointestinal illness linked to consumption of British Columbia oysters.
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