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Effective Friday October 9, the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) announced an emergency closure for one shellfish growing area out of an abundance of caution and in conformance with recommendations from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The waters in the Little Wicomico River in Northumberland County are closed to harvesting of oysters and clams due to a link to a Salmonella outbreak in Pennsylvania. The outbreak was declared by the Pennsylvania Department of Health in combination with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.
In response to this single growing area closure, a recall notice was issued only for Little Wicomico Oyster Company products harvested from the now closed Little Wicomico and Little Wicomico River lower growing areas.
On Monday, October 19, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Food Safety Alert associated with a multistate outbreak of Salmonella Telelkebir infections. The FDA worked with states to conduct traceback to identify sources of oysters consumed by sick people. Oysters reported by ill people were harvested from multiple geographic locations, but oysters harvested from the Little Wicomico River by Little Wicomico Oyster Company were the only oysters in common to the seven ill people included in traceback.
The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) oversees more than 90 shellfish growing areas covering four major rivers and their tributaries, the Chesapeake Bay, and estuaries of the Atlantic Ocean. Shellfish products harvested from the other Virginia growing areas are not impacted by the emergency closure or recall.