The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has issued a health warning against consuming certain shellfish from San Diego County. Specifically, this relates to sport-harvested mussels, clams, scallops, and oysters due to detecting hazardous levels of domoic acid in these marine organisms. Domoic acid, a naturally occurring neurotoxin, can lead to what is commonly known as amnesic shellfish poisoning, posing a direct threat to human health. The California Department of Public Health alert is directed at individuals who harvest these sea creatures for consumption.
Domoic acid is no joke, and it's sticking around in mussels from the San Diego shoreline. The toxin can result in illness or, in extreme cases, death, and it's worth noting that cooking the shellfish won't make them any safer to eat. After dining on contaminated shellfish, people can experience symptoms like vomiting, diarrhea, and more severe neurological effects, as reported by the CDPH. Cases have been documented where individuals, having eaten such toxic seafood, suffered from confusion and loss of short-term memory, with some ending up in comas or worse.
However, not all shellfish are off the menu. The CDPH has clarified that commercially sold shellfish from San Diego County are monitored for safety, and the warning does not apply to these. Only seafood that has been harvested or dealt with by state-certified professionals is considered safe due to the rigorous and frequent testing for toxins like domoic acid that these products undergo.
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