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Tuesday, July 10, 2001
Group warns of dangers of oysters

From staff and wire reports
   A consumer advocacy group warned against eating oysters from the Gulf of Mexico unless they have been cooked or treated to kill bacteria blamed for 15 to 20 deaths a year.
   "Consumers can't afford to wait any longer for industry action," said Caroline Smith DeWaal, food safety director for the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
   Based on government reports, there were at least 85 deaths related to the bacteria, Vibrio vulnificus, from 1996 through 2000, including 16 last year, the group said Monday.
   In 2000 there were nine reported cases and five deaths in Texas attributed to the bacteria found in raw oysters, according to the Seafood Safety Division of the Texas Department of Health.
   "People with compromised immune systems should not consume raw oysters," Kirk Wiles, director of the Seafood Safety Division, told the Caller-Times.
   Wiles said eating raw oysters harvested during the summer months could be deadly to those with diabetes, liver problems, hepatitis, HIV, AIDS, alcoholism and to those who are taking immuno suppressant drugs, like the kind taken after organ transplants.
   "For the healthy individual the risk is minimal," he said.
   The Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference, a coalition of states that sets standards for the industry, is developing a strategy to cut the number of infections caused by the bacteria by 40 percent by the end of 2005 and 60 percent by the end of the decade.
   The oyster bacteria are found primarily in the Gulf during warm months because they don't tolerate cold water.

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