Neurotoxin in Giant Algal Bloom has Alaska Researchers on Alert
SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Alaska Dispatch News] By Jeannette Lee Falsey - August 17, 2015
An enormous algal bloom containing domoic acid, a potentially fatal neurotoxin that shut down dungeness crab and razor clam fisheries in Washington state this summer, has spread to Alaska waters. But dozens of shellfish samples taken since the bloom appear to contain only trace amounts of the substance, state scientists said this week.
Shellfish that consume the algae appear to be unharmed by domoic acid, but in high enough concentrations the toxin causes a host of health problems in the mammals that eat them. In 1987, at least 107 people who bought contaminated mussels from Prince Edward Island in Canada reported a variety of symptoms including vomiting, headaches, diarrhea and, in many cases, permanent short-term memory loss. Three of them, aged 71 and older, died.
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