Illness / Death Caused By Uncooked / Undercooked Seafoods

EnolaGaia

EnolaGaia

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This Florida man died from a rare but deadly infection by a Vibrio bacterium he ingested from eating oysters.
Man dies from eating ‘one in a billion’ bad oyster

The man was dining at Rustic Inn Crabhouse in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, when he consumed the oyster that gave him a bacterial infection. He fell ill with Vibrio ...

‘He had that one in a billion that was bad,’ Gary Oreal reportedly said. ‘I feel horrible.’

It was the first time such a tragedy has happened to any guest at the restaurant, Oreal said.

‘Over the course of 60 years, we have served a couple billion oysters and we never had anyone get sick like this guy did,’ he said.

Oreal said that the state Department of Health inspected the kitchen after the incident and that it passed ‘with flying colors’. He cast out a warning about eating oysters – but said that it won’t stop many shellfish fans from consuming them.

‘Oysters are tip of the mountain for dangerous foods to eat,’ he said. ...

The man ... has been identified as Roger ‘Rocky’ Pinckney and tested positive for oxycodone, opiates and cannabis, according to the Broward County Medical Examiner. Vibrio was also found in his blood ...

Pinckney is the second person in Florida to die from eating a raw oyster this month.
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FULL STORY: https://metro.co.uk/2022/08/19/florida-man-dies-from-eating-one-in-a-billion-bad-oyster-17209038/
 
I've got a friend whose research interests lie in Vibrio. In fact, we had a couple of PhD students working on V. vulnificus at one point. I don't suppose there are too many labs where you can open a cupboard and find chainlink gloves and an oyster shucker casually discarded at the back of it.
 
A couple of comments on oysters.
The Landlord of the Castle Pub (now renamed the Old Kent Road Gin Palace) choked and died on an oyster. It was reported at that time (most likely late 70’s early 80’s) in our local South London Press that he swallowed the mollusc with a swish of booze which caused it to immediately harden and become impacted in his throat. Whilst following this thread I looked up whether this can actually happen and it seems to be an urban myth, though quite a prevalent one. Yet that man choked on an oyster which was duly reported locally.

Another thing, I will chew an oyster. I have chewed many of the little gems over the years. One night in a local restaurant I was working through a dozen when, biting into one, my mouth filled with something that I would assume tasted like the sludge from the bottom of a septic tank. I spat it out called the manager and got a hefty deduction on the bill whilst saving myself from the dire consequences of sending that little package whole into my digestive system. I still, very occasionally, eat oysters, I still chew them, and have yet to encounter another bad ‘un.
 
I know a person who claims he is so sensitive to seafood that he cannot even be in the area if someone is cooking seafood.

He carries adrenaline injectable pens.

One of my cousins got hepatitis from oysters, so I leave the oysters alone.

How can one tell if oysters did not come from polluted waters ?
 
Tempest63 said:
A couple of comments on oysters.
The Landlord of the Castle Pub (now renamed the Old Kent Road Gin Palace) choked and died on an oyster. It was reported at that time (most likely late 70’s early 80’s) in our local South London Press that he swallowed the mollusc with a swish of booze which caused it to immediately harden and become impacted in his throat. Whilst following this thread I looked up whether this can actually happen and it seems to be an urban myth, though quite a prevalent one. Yet that man choked on an oyster which was duly reported locally.

Another thing, I will chew an oyster. I have chewed many of the little gems over the years. One night in a local restaurant I was working through a dozen when, biting into one, my mouth filled with something that I would assume tasted like the sludge from the bottom of a septic tank. I spat it out called the manager and got a hefty deduction on the bill whilst saving myself from the dire consequences of sending that little package whole into my digestive system. I still, very occasionally, eat oysters, I still chew them, and have yet to encounter another bad ‘un.
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I always chew oysters, I can’t see the point in eating them if you don’t. I’ve eaten many but have been lucky and never had food poisoning from one. I once opened a bad one and the smell was gut wrenching.
 
I have never once been tempted to eat oysters, mussels, whelks and the like.
I'm OK with lobsters, crabs, shrimps, prawns, langoustines etc.
Even though they are 'underwater insects'. :)
 
When you eat a fresh oyster, it is still alive but it assumed the oyster does not feel pain because it does not have a brain.

Also, I guess the oyster does not say “ ouch” when you chomp down on the oyster.

Shrimp for sale at the grocery says it was farmed in China or Thailand, so my wife probably overcooks the shrimp because she is afraid they were grown in really bad stuff.
 
charliebrown said:
How can one tell if oysters did not come from polluted waters ?
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You can't, really. You have to trust your supplier, as Nigel Slater (celebrity chef) tells us.

The trouble with Vibrio is that it likes warmer waters. Climate change is not helping. However, it does seem to shut itself down completely when the temperature drops.
 
An elderly friend of mine contracted typhoid from cockles in the 1940s in the UK Fortunately she recovered.

I must admit I do still like cockles though. Home Bargains do little jars of them in vinegar when I am desperate..
 
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