Posted on 09/29/2006 2:55:11 PM PDT by Dysart
MCKINNEY, Texas -- The Collin County Health Department on Friday reported that a Dallas resident died earlier this week after consuming raw oysters at a restaurant in Plano.
Oysters can be contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio vulnificus. This bacterium is naturally present in marine environments and does not alter the appearance, taste, or odor of oysters.
Among healthy people, ingestion of V. vulnificus can cause vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain.
In immunocompromised persons, particularly those with chronic liver disease, V. vulnificus can infect the bloodstream, causing a severe and life-threatening illness characterized by fever and chills, decreased blood pressure (septic shock), and blistering skin lesions.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbc5i.com ...
I've spent many fall Sunday's in Florida doing just that........get rid of the shells quickly though.
Why would it impress a date?
I adore oysters, and could have downed three dozen with lemon and horseradish while you were still gagging on your first one. :)
LOLOL. Was there a second date?
So this shouldn't be a problem
No, that pretty much ended my chances with her. Too bad, she was cute.
GAK.
But she figured it out, anyway, LOL.
You forgot May. :-)
This thread has convinced me - I am never eating one of those slimy things.
No agenda. I have lived near and associated with oystermen for about 40 years and what I know of the subject comes firsthand.
Secondly an oyster does not haven to smell bad or be rotten to be "spoiled".
You can bring in a bag of oysers (un-refrigerated) on a hot day and every one of them is spoiled, and yet they smell and appear to be just fine.
They become spoiled by the rapidly multiplying bacteria, but if you open one you wouldn't notice. Anything food crawling with bacteria can be considered spoiled without having to wait for the smell and appearance to change. It's especially important in oysters because they are one of the few foods I know of where you eat the entire animal, guts and all.
My original post on this was pointing out the reason for the old "R" month rule and why it was necessary before the oystermen were able to stock their boats with cheap ice (it used to be a bit pricey for them as late as the 50's) the oysters would die in the heat, and a dead oyster (not yet rotten or smelly) is simply just plain dead and thus worthless.
I'm not a microbiologist and never claimed to be one, but over the years, I have learned a lot about oysters and have consumed a lot of them...and will again later today. I don't eat them when they're spawning (it's a taste thing) but they are edible year-round.
I was merely pointing out that the "R" month thing had more to do with lack of good refrigeration on the part of the oystermen than the oysters themselves.
Here in Florida, the state closely monitors the harvesting waters and sometimes they will close some areas. I't's been quite a while since they've had to do that as it's usually caused by flood waters that wash down the Apalachicola River, that have run over land, picking up cattle dung and who knows what all else. The saltwater critters, including oysters, filter the bacteria out and eat them over a period of time (and eventually clear the water) but when you eat a raw oyster, you're having what he ate as well. After flooding or a very heavy rain with a lot of runoff, the state will immediatley close those waters until their tests indicate a safe bacteria level.
A normal, healthy person can eat safely harvested oysters without fear. I say that because there are a good many thousands of us that have been doing just that for a lot of years and we couldn't all have just been lucky all that time.
Point #2 you wrote:"They come from too warm water, norm, just like the old saying about the 'r' months."
It has absolutely NOTHING to do with water temp. They are harvesting them right now with a water temp of 84 degrees (it doesn't get much warmer than that around here) and they are just fine. Last year we harvested from 87 degree water....just how warm do you consider to be too warm and why aren't we all dying?
I would like to know who got up the nerve to eat the first one.
Unless you love the taste, they are about the ugliest looking foods known to science.
But eat one? That would be like eating the filter from the H2O plant.
Yuck.
I know you enjoy them, and I wish you well - proves that people will buy anything.
LOL.
Side note:The "too warm water" theory sounds logical but it dosn't play out that way in real life. Just about all of our closures (for bacteria count) have been in the Spring and were caused by flood run-offs when the water temp was in the 60's. The remainder happened after hurricanes and the like causing similar flooding.
The bacteria blooms actually originate on land and are washed into the water by flooding and almost all of that happens in FebRuaRY, MaRch and ApRil. In other words we get the most bacteria in the cooler water temps and in some months with R's in them. That's where the water temp theory falls apart.
Just answer 2 questions, did the Dallas man die of vibrio v.? If he didn't why was the article about v.v. linked to the story?
My response was totally about the myth of "month with an 'R' in it" question and absolutely nothing else, so anything else you try to build upon that = "straw men".
You were the one that proclaimed water temps that were too high as the reason for the old "R month" myth and it is simply not true.
My posts had nothing to do with whatever killed the guy in Dallas because I have no knowledge of it except from what I have read.
My response to you centered around your proclamation that the "R-month" thing was all about water temperature and I tried to illustrate to you that this was not the case at all and history backs me up.
I don't want to play the old game where you change the argument in the middle of the game when the old one crashes.
The bacterial "blooms' were due to flood run-offs and were totally unrelated to water temps.
If you are going to respond to me, please make the response come reasonably close to the comments of mine that you are criticizing.
If you have to try and alter the original discussion to look good and dodge the original question, then go ahead....have fun.
Our original divergence of opinions happened over: They come from too warm water, norm, just like the old saying about the 'r' months.
and instead of responding to being being wrong about this, you want to go elsewhere. I can't blame you for a typical human response. It is like when the libs, when caught in a flasehood, suddenly want to "move on" and alter the discussion to something (anything) else.
I can eat oysters on the halfshell all day. All I need is ketchup, horseradish, Tabasco, and saltine crackers. And beer. Lots of beer.
But Oysters Rockefeller. The nastiest thing I've ever put in my mouth. I like dill pickles, but everytime I bite into one they make me wince. This was about 100 times worse. I'd rather swallow my dip of Skoal than ever taste Oysters Rockefellar again.
Glad your laughing.
My only comments on this dealt with the "R month" water temperature myth which you promoted.
Please don't try to avoid answering my response by trying to change the subject.
My question to you is about the water temperature scenario and absolutely nothing else. Pklease don't drag distractions into this.
If you can't respond to that, then stop spinning.
I seem to recall doing that a few times myself. ;^)
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