State Health Officials Issue Seafood Warning
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State health officials warned people not to eat crabs, sardines, anchovies and bivalves such as clams and oysters caught for sport along the coastline of Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.
Testing has revealed elevated levels in those species of a toxin called domoic acid, said Lea Brooks, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Health Services.
Though no one in California has been confirmed as becoming ill from the poison, the symptoms of a mild case mimic those of the flu, health specialists say. In severe cases, people may become disoriented, experience seizures and even die.
Domoic acid is produced by sea algae. Scientists do not know why production increases from time to time.
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