Health
SACRAMENTO – The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) is warning consumers not to eat certain types of seafood from the Ventura county coastline due to dangerous levels of a naturally occurring toxin that can cause illness or death.
Consumers are advised not to eat:
– recreationally harvested bivalve shellfish (such as mussels, clams or whole scallops); or
– the internal organs of lobster or rock crab.
Dangerous levels of domoic acid have been detected in the internal organs of lobster (also called lobster tomalley) from this region.
This toxin, also known as Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning (ASP), can cause illness or death in humans.
No cases of human poisoning from domoic acid are known to have occurred in California. Rock crab are also capable of accumulating this toxin in the internal organs (also called crab butter).
This warning does not apply to commercially sold clams, mussels, scallops or oysters from approved sources.
State law permits only state-certified commercial shellfish harvesters or dealers to sell these products.
Shellfish sold by certified harvesters and dealers are subject to frequent mandatory testing to monitor for toxins.
Symptoms of domoic acid poisoning can occur within 30 minutes to 24 hours after eating toxic seafood.
In mild cases, symptoms may include vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramps, headache and dizziness. These symptoms disappear within several days.
In severe cases, the victim may experience trouble breathing, confusion, disorientation, cardiovascular instability, seizures, excessive bronchial secretions, permanent loss of short term memory, coma or death.
The annual quarantine on recreationally harvested mussels remains in effect along the entire California coastline.
This quarantine applies to all species of mussels harvested along the California coast, including all bays and estuaries.
To receive updated information about shellfish poisoning and quarantines, call CDPH’s toll-free “Shellfish Information Line” at 800-553-4133.
For additional information visit CDPH’s Natural Marine Toxins: PSP and Domoic Acid Web page at its main Web site, www.cdph.ca.gov .
- Details
- Written by: Editor
UKIAH, Calif. – On Thursday, Oct. 16, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Ukiah Valley Medical Center will host a community open house focused on quality, called, “Quality to the Next Level.”
According to Vice President of Patient Care Heather Van Housen, this event is about transparency.
“This is an opportunity for community members to join us to learn and ask questions about quality at the medical center,” Van Housen said. “For example, they will see how UVMC compares to the nation’s elite hospitals and learn about what each of our departments is doing to improve quality and the patient experience.
“Quality doesn’t happen by accident,” continued Van Housen. “It’s really a concerted effort by every employee of the medical center. Dietary and maintenance are just as involved in providing a quality experience to patients, as are the nurses and doctors in the emergency room and intensive care unit. It’s all of us working together to create an excellent experience.”
So what constitutes hospital quality? Quality Manager at UVMC, Danielle Jones, says that quality is measured in several different ways, “We’re measured on infection prevention, readmission rates, how well we prevent patient falls, prevention of pressure ulcers, reducing sepsis, and stroke response times – as an example. Our goal is to demystify the medical center experience and educate the community on how quality is the foundation to having an excellent patient experience at the medical center.”
At the Quality to the Next Level event you will be able to talk with front line staff from every department, ask questions, and gain a better understanding of what each department does to impact the quality of your experience at the medical center.
For more information please call 707-463-7361.
- Details
- Written by: Editor
How to resolve AdBlock issue?