STORY:

An emergency ban in California this week has stopped the shipment of more than 500,000 pounds of Gulf Coast oysters to California. The state’s officials are preventing California retailers, distributors and wholesalers from accepting Gulf Coast oysters harvested between April and October in Louisiana, Texas, Florida, Mississippi and Alabama due to concerns about contamination with the bacteria Vibrio vulnificus. The bacteria can lead to severe illness and death, especially in people with chronic liver disease, cancer, AIDS or other conditions that weaken the immune system.

University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) biologist Asim Bej, Ph.D., has developed the test, which can identify the presence of less than three cells of Vibrio vulnificus per gram of oyster meat and be completed within a day.

WHO:

Asim K. Bej, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the UAB Department of Biology. His research interests include rapid detection of microbial pathogens in food and water samples for the safety of human health.

WHAT:

“This test complies with the recently issued guidelines by the Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference that requires by 2007 that post-harvest treated oysters must not contain more than three Vibrio vulnificus cells per gram of oyster meat, which should effectively reduce illnesses associated with this microorganism by 60 percent,” Bej said. “This test is a major accomplishment and is ahead of the game in terms of regulation.”

The test Bej and his colleagues have developed uses a “real-time” polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of DNA segments to detect dangerous pathogens in oysters. The Mississippi Alabama Sea Grant Consortium and UAB fund the research.

BACKGROUND:

The ban affects oysters that have not been processed to eliminate the bacteria. The action could cost the Gulf Coast oyster industry millions in sales. In 2002, the Gulf Coast led the nation in production of oysters with 20.7 million pounds of meat, 60 percent of the national total, valued at $44 million.