The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), along with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), have issued warnings regarding oysters harvested from multiple areas due to potential norovirus contamination.

The FDA is warning U.S. retailers and restaurants not to use certain lots of oysters from Taylor Shellfish Canada and from Ruco’s Shellfish due to the potential for norovirus. 

Taylor Shellfish Canada issued a recall on 21 December for Fanny Bay, Sunseeker, and Cloudy Bay oysters harvested on 27 November and 3 December from British Columbia growing area BC 14-8 Landfile (LF) # 0278741, as well as oysters harvested on 3 December and 5 December from growing area BC 14-8 LF # 0335309, the CFIA said.

The oysters were shipped to distributors and retailers in the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, and Ontario, as well as in the U.S. state of California. They may have been distributed to other U.S. states as well.

“The FDA is advising restaurants and food retailers not to serve or sell and to dispose of, and consumers not to eat, these oysters … because they may be contaminated with norovirus,” the agency said.

The FDA is also advising retailers and restaurants not to use certain oysters from Ruco’s Shellfish in Hammersley Inlet growing area, Washington, U.S.A., due to the potential for norovirus. The warning stems from a Washington recall of shellstock oysters harvested from 2 December to 17 December 2024 by Ruco’s Shellfish. The oysters were distributed in Washington and Oregon and may have been distributed to other states as well, according to the FDA.

The FDA’s warning and Taylor Shellfish’s recall comes after San Fransisco, California, U.S.A.-based seafood distributor S&M Shellfish issued an urgent recall of certain Fanny Bay, Buckley Bay, and Royal Miyagi oysters due to multiple confirmed illnesses from norovirus contamination.

The oysters, originally sourced by S&M Shellfish from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada-based Pacific Northwest Shellfish and Richmond, British Columbia, Canada-based Union Bay Seafood, were sent to retailers and distributors throughout the U.S.

Additionally, the FDA is warning retailers and restaurants in several U.S. states to not use certain oysters and Manila clams from Rudy’s Shellfish in the U.S. state of Washington due to possible norovirus contamination.

The FDA did not provide details on specific norovirus outbreaks, but the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is investigating a norovirus outbreak after oysters served at a Los Angeles County event in early December sickened 80 people, per Desert Sun.

According to the newspaper, more than 80 people who ate oysters at the 3 December Los Angeles Times 101 Best Restaurants event reported illnesses and gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhea, nausea, abdominal pain, and vomiting. 

Additionally, The British Columbia Centre for Disease Control reported that between 1 November and 20 December, 77 cases of norovirus-like gastrointestinal illness have been reported in the Vancouver Coastal Health, Fraser Health, and Island Health regions. 

“Those affected have reported symptoms of diarrhea, vomiting, and/or stomach pain after eating raw oysters from restaurants and retail locations,” the BCCDC said. While some individuals have visited emergency departments, there have been no hospital admissions reported, according to the government agency.

Source - https://www.seafoodsource.com