After several cases of food poisoning following the consumption of oysters from the Arcachon basin, they are temporarily banned for sale.
Hard blow for oyster farmers in the Arcachon basin. After “several cases of collective food poisoning”, whose “symptoms are those of acute gastroenteritis”, the Gironde prefecture took the decision to ban the sale of oysters for an indefinite period. It announces in a press release published Wednesday, December 27 in the evening on prohibited at the moment. This is also the case for recreational fishing.
A few days before the New Year, this news comes at a bad time for the profession which has already suffered enormously from the storms this year and for which a large part of its turnover is generated at this time of the year. This announcement was difficult to take but was necessary, even if “no serious cases have been reported to date,” specify the authorities. Oyster farmers are worried about whether they will be able to sell oysters on December 31. This measure will be lifted “as soon as the health quality of the shellfish becomes fully satisfactory again.”
“As of today, batches of shellfish harvested or fished in these areas must be withdrawn from sale. People who have shellfish from these areas are asked not to consume them and to return them to the point of sale. “, asks the prefecture in its press release.
“Traceability investigations are underway but several reports indicate that oysters from the Arcachon basin are in question,” indicate the state services, which add that “analyses carried out on oysters farmed in the Arcachon basin ‘Arcachon confirm the presence of norovirus. According to France 3, this bacteria is responsible for gastroenteritis, cases of which have increased in New Aquitaine in recent days.