Dallas Resident Dies After Eating Raw Oysters

NBC5i ^ | 9-29-06 | AP

[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.

[Frank_2001]

Don't mess with Texas oysters!

[BookaT]

I guess Mountain Oysters are safe year round.

Harvesting them is never safe.

Eww! Well you knew it was going to be posted.

[Dog Gone]

This thread has been therapeutic for me. I thought the trauma I had that evening was just me.

LOL

[Dysart]

I eat oysters all the time...just for the halibut.

I sea.

[capt. norm]

I have yet to die from eating oysters, but that's just me. Spinach, on the other hand - that stuff can kill you.

I've been eating local raw oysters from Panama City, FL. and the excellent Apalachicola oysters and have never had a problem.

LSU, a few years ago, released some research that indicated either the vinegar or the hot pepper juice commonly found in the red sauce that is usually put on raw oysters, kills just about all the microbes.

Just use the sauce and there should be no problems if you are otherwise healthy. Also, make sure either you opened them yourself or you were able to be sure someone else is opening them just before you eat them. The oyster is, essentially, still alive when you eat it....you don't want to ever eat a dead one raw....unless it died on your plate minutes before eating.

[Hazcat]

LOL Those I have not tried.

[capt. norm]

The old wives tale was that you should never eat shellfish in months with an R in the name.

This dates back to before refrigeration was commonly available.

[wideminded]

Several years ago I had some raw oysters at a restaurant that specializes in them (where I assumed it would be safe to order them). I felt ill for several days afterward. It wasn't normal food poisoning with diarrhea or vomiting. Instead I remember just having no energy and feeling terrible. I wondered if I had been affected by the "red tide" nerve toxin.

I used to like raw oysters but maybe you can't take the chance these days.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Dang, and I had just tonged up a mess of them down at the Rio Grande.

[capt. norm]

An old myth (with much truth to it) is that you don't consume oysters during months that end in R.

The truth is totally gone from the old myth since refrigeration became widely available.

[Orange1998]

"I tried raw oysters once to impress a date."

If I went on a date and she did that I would be quite impressed!

[Dysart]

Dang, and I had just tonged up a mess of them down at the Rio Grande

I can put away my own weight in them--DEEP FRIED.

[Kozak]

Actually, the rule was you should only eat shellfish during R months because the seawater is then chilly enough that the bacteria doesn't thrive.

However due to global warming, the oceans are warmer and therefor:

IT'S BUSH'S FAULT!

[capt. norm]

Why? Because bacteria proliferate in shellfish in the warmer waters of summertime.

That is a total fabrication. Ithe "R" rule was only establishe before there was good refrigeration.

Bacteria is one of the "foods" that oysters eat and are always present. Here in the Florida Panhandle, our water doesn't get cool enough to kill off the bacteria, even in the worst winters.

[Ditter]

yeah it is Septemberrrrrrr but the oysters were gathered in HOT summer weather, maybe even in Augusttttttt. I love fried oysters but I won't even eat them until after the water temps cool off.

[31R1O]

I know, it was oysters Rockafeller. Oyster and spinach, double whammy!

[Toby06]

Thanks for the ping. I ain't going to Dallas to eat old oysters when I can walk down to the ocean and get 'em fresh and warm. YUM!

[nuconvert]

Don't eat bait. Especially if it's raw.

[Ditter]

No norm, you lose your captains license with that one. It has nothing to do with refrigeration, it has to do with the toxins that live in the warm water that the oysters are gathered in.

[Atlas Sneezed]

Oysters+spinach= Oysters Rockefeller!