WASHINGTON After 11 people became ill after eating raw oysters at a restaurant in Chattanooga, Tenn., the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has warned foodservice operators and retailers to avoid selling oysters from a certain section of Mississippi’s coastal waters.
The FDA advised restaurateurs and suppliers to avoid oysters harvested between Feb. 24 and March 17 from Mississippi Area 2-C, the Mississippi Sound portion of the Gulf of Mexico near Pass Christian, Miss.
The Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department and Tennessee Department of Health confirmed that individuals who ate raw oysters at the Boathouse Rotisserie and Raw Bar and became sick were infected with norovirus, a foodborne pathogen that can result in acute gastroenteritis -- more commonly known as stomach flu -- in humans.
The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources prohibited harvesting in Area 2-C on March 17.
Contact Paul Frumkin at [email protected].