2023-12-29 13:36:00
The prefecture of Gironde decided on Wednesday December 27 “to temporarily prohibit fishing, harvesting and marketing activities intended for human consumption of shellfish from the Arcachon basin, including the Banc d’Arguin”.
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A decision taken following several cases of food poisoning apparently linked to oysters fished in the area. How were these cases reported? Why are the shellfish from the Arcachon basin the cause? We’ll explain it to you.
Norovirus in shellfish
“Several cases of collective food poisoning” were recorded around Christmas, the peak of oyster consumption in France, notes the prefecture in its press release, specifying that “several reports indicate that oysters from the Arcachon basin are in cause “. Indeed, “analyses carried out on oysters farmed in the Arcachon basin confirm the presence of norovirus”.
This norovirus is the cause of symptoms of acute gastroenteritis as observed in many consumers, even if “no serious cases have been reported to date”, according to the prefecture. In the days around Christmas, the Regional Health Agency (ARS) of Nouvelle-Aquitaine reported “an increase in visits to emergency rooms for gastrointestinal symptoms linked to the same food origin”. The most common symptoms are diarrhea or vomiting, which may be accompanied by nausea, abdominal pain and fever.
Saturation of water networks
How can we explain the presence of norovirus in shellfish from the Arcachon basin? Norovirus, recalls the Arcachon Aquitaine regional shellfish farming committee (CRCAA), is not “naturally” present in seawater. Its appearance would be linked to the severe bad weather which has hit the region in recent months: “Force is to note that the Arcachon basin and, consequently, the oyster farming profession are victims of the saturation of wastewater and rainwater networks, causing overflows into the natural environment and thus contaminating the production areas” , explains the CRCAA in its press release.
“At the end of the day, you can have mixtures of waste and rainwater flowing into the natural environment,” recognizes a manager of the Syndicat intercommunal du bassin d’Arcachon, network manager, while ensuring that “we are working on the subject […] to improve the protection of the territory once morest bad weather.
In the meantime, the ban decided by the prefecture “will be lifted as soon as the health quality of the shellfish becomes fully satisfactory once more”.
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