FDA issues alert over sapovirus illnesses connected to raw oysters

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is advising restaurants and retailers not to serve or sell and consumers not to eat certain potentially contaminated oysters after the Southern Nevada Health District notified the FDA of two clusters of sapovirus illnesses.

The oysters subject to the FDA alert are from Dai One Foods Co. Ltd, of the Republic of Korea.

According to the alert, the Southern Nevada Health District notified the FDA of two clusters of illnesses from individuals that consumed raw oysters at a restaurant in Las Vegas on Oct. 28 and Nov. 5. As of the posting of this alert, the Southern Nevada Health District reports one confirmed and nine potential sapovirus illnesses.

The oysters were shipped from the ROK and distributed in Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

The FDA is advising consumers not to eat, and restaurants and food retailers not to sell, and to dispose of the recalled Dai One Food Co. frozen half shell oysters.

The FDA has notified state contacts and the Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference (ISSC) of the import and harvest details.

Sapoviruses cause a sporadic gastroenteritis, similar to norovirus, in populations ranging from children to the elderly. The infections are more frequent in children under age 5 than in adults. The most common symptoms of sapovirus are diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, and stomach pain. Other symptoms include fever, headache, and body ache.

Most people infected with sapovirus begin to develop symptoms 12 to 48 hours after infection. Symptoms usually last one to four days.

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