FDA: Raw oysters linked to norovirus outbreak

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has confirmed that raw oysters potentially contaminated with norovirus and harvested in British Columbia were distributed to restaurants and retailers in the U.S.

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At least 91 people in more than a dozen U.S. states and 279 more in Canada have been sickened in the norovirus outbreak, CBS reported.

In an advisory, the FDA said that the raw oysters were distributed to restaurants and retailers in California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Texas and Washington.

The FDA advised retailers to not serve raw oysters harvested from the following locations within British Columbia: BC 14-8 and BC 14-15. The harvest dates impacted by the advisory begin as early as January 31, 2022, the FDA reported. The harvest date is printed on the product tags. Consumers were also advised not to eat raw oysters from the affected region.

The FDA said that food contaminated with norovirus may look, smell and taste normal. The most common symptoms of norovirus are diarrhea, vomiting, nausea and stomach pain. Other symptoms include fever, headache and body ache. A person usually develops symptoms 12 to 48 hours after being exposed to norovirus.

Most people who contract norovirus begin to recover within 1 to 3 days, according to the FDA. Those with compromised immune systems may have more severe infections.

Norovirus is the leading cause of food-borne illness in the United States, CBS reported.

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