Louisiana Oyster Bed Reopens After Norovirus Scare
The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals today reopened Area 29 to oyster harvesting after it had been shut down over concerns that the oysters caused a Norovirus outbreak in North Carolina last month.
"DHH evaluations of Area 29, located in Lower Calcasieu Lake, have determined the molluscan shellfish growing waters there are suitable for harvest of oysters,'' the department said in a press release.
Calcasieu Lake is an estuary in the Gulf of Mexico south of Lake Charles, Louisiana.
Public health officials in Raleigh, N.C., reported that about 280 people became sick last month after dining at an oyster bar that served oysters from the area in question.
Norovirus is highly contagious and causes common illnesses with flu-like symptoms that last for one to two days. The bacteria can find its way into oysters by way of sewage run-off. DHH is continuing to monitor the waters.
