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Dangerous toxin alert closes New Brunswick waters to shellfish harvesting

Date: Sat, 20 Apr 2002
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
Source: C news [edited]
<http://www.canoe.ca/AtlanticTicker/CANOE-wire.NB-Toxin-Shellfish.html>

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MONCTON, New Brunswick: The federal Fisheries Department has closed New Brunswick's east coast to shellfish harvesting because of dangerously high toxin levels.

Results released on Friday from domoic acid testing prompted the department to close all inland and tidal waters of New Brunswick bordering the Gulf of St Lawrence, the Northumberland Strait, and Chaleur Bay to the harvesting of mussels, oysters, clams, and quahogs. The closure does not affect scallops. This is the second Maritime province to be affected by the problem this spring.

The toxin was discovered in waters off Prince Edward Island in early March 2002 and reached high enough levels in April 2002 to close bays to harvesting all along the Island's north shore.

Domoic acid is produced during algae blooms [I do not believe that any of the human cases in the past were due to water ingestion, just eating shellfish that acquired the toxin through the food chain. I suspect that cases among dolphins and sea lions in the current ProMED-mail postings acquired the domoic acid in the same way. - Mod.LL]. [Domoic acid] can cause memory loss and even death if taken in large enough doses.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has been monitoring Maritime waters for domoic acid since a serious outbreak in 1987 killed 2 people and made 100 ill. There have been numerous outbreaks since then but none has reached the 1987 levels. All of the previous outbreaks have come in the fall. Scientists are still trying to figure out why this one occurred in the spring.

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