FROM REUTERS NATIONAL WIRE SERVICE:

(This also appeared on Environmental News Network wire and web site)

Tuesday September 22, 8:40 pm Eastern Time

By Patrick Connole

WASHINGTON, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Consumers have no need to worry about the safety of eating seafood harvested from waters where the fish-killing Pfiesteria organism exists, according to all available scientific tests, researchers said on Tuesday.

North Carolina State University food scientist David Green told a National Sea Grant College workshop no evidence has linked Pfiesteria with seafood-borne illness during or after major fish kills in North Carolina, Virginia or Maryland in the past five years.

``I have very little doubt to believe that what is in the market is safe. There has never been a reported case of illness from eating fish or shellfish due to Pfiesteria,'' Green said.

The toxic one-cell organism terrorized Chesapeake Bay by killing thousands of fish and leaving dozens of people sick a year ago, but has not returned to coastal waterways of Maryland and Virginia this year.

Scientists had feared that this year's warmer-than-usual water temperatures induced by El Nino would cause outbreaks of Pfiesteria piscicida, which forced Maryland to close the Pocomoke River to boating and fishing last summer.

Fish infected by the deadly toxins grow lesions and unsightly bleeding sores. Millions of Atlantic menhaden and other fish have been killed by outbreaks since the late 1980s.

In North Carolina, considered the epicenter of the toxin and home to scientific research on the subject, more than 1 billion fish have been killed by toxic Pfiesteria since 1991.

Research published this year in the British periodical The Lancet did find that some Marylanders environmentally exposed to waters containing the toxin-producing form of Pfiesteria piscicida did experience temporary memory loss and learning difficulties, explaining the illnesses of some fisherman.

Green said further studies were needed to confirm those findings and other public health concerns, but as far as eating fish and shellfish, the consumer need not be afraid.

``Then can we say it is safe to eat seafood? Yes, it is safe to eat seafood. No scientific evidence has been presented to date that demonstrates concentration of Pp (Pfiesteria piscicida) toxins in tissues of fish or shellfish,'' the Green report said.

Public health warnings caution that research on the toxin is not complete. Recommendations are to avoid eating seafood with obvious signs of sores or peeled skin.