Bivalve molluscan shellfish feed by filtering large volumes of seawater and accumulating food particles from their surrounding environment. When that environment is contaminated by sewage, shellfish will also accumulate human pathogenic bacteria and viruses during filter-feeding and present a health risk when consumed raw or only lightly cooked. In order to render such shellfish fit for consump...

The five most commonly recognized Harmful Algal Bloom related illnesses include Ciguatera poisoning, Paralytic Shellfish poisoning, Neurotoxin Shellfish poisoning, Diarrheic Shellfish Poisoning and Amnesic Shellfish poisoning. Although they are each the product of different toxins, toxin assemblages or HAB precursors these clinical syndromes have much in common. Exposure occurs through the cons...

The Florida Keys, a delicate archipelago of sub-tropical islands extending from the south-eastern tip Florida, host vast majority only coral barrier reef in continental United States. Abiotic as well microbial components surrounding waters are pivotal for health habitats, and thus could play an important role understanding development transmission diseases Florida. In this study, we analyzed co...

A modified polyethylene glycol precipitation method for concentration of virus followed by a new method to recover nucleic acid was used to detect hepatitis A virus (HAV) and rotavirus (SA11) in shellfish (oysters and hard-shell clams) by hybridization tests. Infectious virus, seeded into relatively large quantities of shellfish, was recovered consistently, with greater than 90% efficiency as m...

Fish and marine mammal consumption are an important pathway for human exposure to mercury. The low mercury content in shellfish poses a low mercury health risk to people who consume shellfish. The objectives of this study are to detect mercury concentrations in different species of shellfish and to calculate the mercury health risk from shellfish consumption among traditional residents near nor...

Various sea foods including fish, shellfish and shrimp were collected from different coastal areas of Fujian in China, and their Pb species characteristics were investigated in detail. The results indicated that there are two different species characteristics of Pb existing in sea food samples. About half of samples were detected to have only Pb(2+), and another half of samples were detected to...

Seafood is a valuable source of nutrients important for fetal development. However, seafood consumption is the main route of exposure to monomethyl mercury (MeHg+) for humans. MeHg+ is highly bioavailable and potentially adversely affects fetal neurodevelopment. MeHg+ exposure from fish consumption varies significantly by age and trophic level of fish consumed as well as the frequency and amoun...

Post-harvest Processing (PHP) methods are viable food processing methods employed to reduce human pathogens in molluscan shellfish that would normally be consumed raw, such as raw oysters on the half-shell. Efficacy of human pathogen reduction associated with PHP varies with respect to time, temperature, salinity, pressure, and process exposure. Regulatory requirements and PHP molluscan shellfi...

BACKGROUND Environmental exposures, including dietary contaminants, may influence the developing immune system. This study assesses the association between maternal pre-parturition consumption of seafood and wheeze, eczema, and food allergy in preschool children. Fish and shellfish were studied separately as they differ according to their levels of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (which hav...