Every month thousands of people visit Maryland but among those some people know about Maryland seafood food poisoning. They visit Maryland to enjoy their cultural seafood dishes, along with this popularity there is risk of seafood food poisoning.
Every month several food poisoning cases are reported but among them an unexpected food poisoning incident shocked the whole world. This Maryland seafood food poisoning was unusual. Media channel, newspaper, Radio stations and even on every social media platforms only this incidents news was running
Seafood Food poisoning happen when a person consume food which contain bacteria, viruses, parasite or toxins. These pathogens will make you sick.
Common symptoms of food poisoning:
. Diarrhea
. Nausea
. Vomiting
. Headache
. Fatigue and weakness
. Stomach pain
Sometimes food poisoning can happen due to eating contaminated seafood and make you sick. Seafood can be contaminated when it is cooked incorrectly, stored, in water or being transported
Maryland Seafood Food Poisoning incident
NAFCO a wholesale seafood distributor company faced a major problem on 21 Oct 2024, at same time their 46 of workers get sick due to food poising. This situation started 3-4 hours after lunch, their workers condition was so critical so they were rushed to the hospital in emergency. The worker feel dizziness, stomach pain, diarrhea and vomiting.
All the world was shocked because this incident was occur in a Seafood Company and seafood food poisoning is risky. After Maryland seafood food poisoning incident people raised question on NAFCO seafood’s, that their foods are unsafe. Company customer were worried about the food safety. Later on after investigation results proved that this food poisoning was due to homemade meal (pancit) brought by a worker and shared with coworkers during lunch. Maryland seafood food poisoning was an unusual incident.
Illnesses linked to seafood
There are several illnesses a person can face when he/she eat seafood containing bacteria, parasite, viruses or toxins in them.
Maryland seafood food poisoning can cause:
1-Bacterial Illnesses
. Vibrio infection
This bacterial infection mainly caused when you consume seafood containing vibrio specie. This bacteria in mostly found in raw and undercooked foods and seafood or in water which is contaminated by vibrio.
Symptoms: fever, abdominal pain, blood stream infection, skin infections, nausea or vomiting.
Treatment: if condition get worse need to take medicines like doxycycline or sometime ceftriaxone, always keeps body hydrated and take rest, if infection spread in blood then hospital care in needed.
. Listeria
Bacterial infection caused by Listeria monocytogenes. It mostly affect newborn babies, elders, and pregnant women’s.
This bacterial infection caused Smoked seafood’s, improper refrigeration, ready to eat processed foods or poor handling.
Symptoms: fever, muscle ache, headache, nausea, loss of weight and seizures.
Treatment: Mostly infection gone at its own, in severe cases medicines are needed or if infection spread in blood and brain hospital care is mandatory.
. Salmonellosis
Salmonellosis is a kind of bacteria which cause Salmonellosis. Salmonellosis is found in raw and undercooked food, in contaminated water or contaminated fish or shellfish.
Symptoms: Nausea, Vomiting, headache, diarrhea, stomach cramp fever and body aches.
Treatment: keep your body hydrated and rest well, medicine are not required always because most cases get better at their own, in severe cases hospital treatment is required.
2-Parasitic Illnesses
. Tapeworm Infection (Diphyllobothrium)
This illness is caused by tapeworms, which live in humans and animals intestine. Certain species of tapeworm spread through raw and undercooked seafood, contaminated food or water and poor sanitation can cause tapeworm infection (mainly known as parasitic seafood-borne illness).
Symptoms: worm segment in stool, abdominal pain, nausea or weakness.
Treatment: medicines like Praziquantel or Albendazole can kill these worms and healthy nutrition’s is also required after infection to recover fast.
. Anisakiasis
This illness is caused due to anisakis worms, these worms are mainly found in marine creatures. When a person eat raw and undercooked seafood containing anisakiasis worms then this worm easily get to your intestine and make you sick.
Symptoms: severe abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea sometimes, rash or Itching
Treatment: After having anisakiasis, doctors use endoscopy to remove worms from stomach, Medicine and painkiller are not effective but you can use for relive.
3-Virus Illnesses
. Noro Virus
Noro virus is one of the common reason for food poisoning, it cause gastroenteritis (inflammation of the stomach and intestines) when you drink contaminated water, touching contaminated surface and then touching your mouth or it can spread from infected person.
Symptoms: body aches, fever, headache, nausea, vomiting, stomach cramp, watery stool.
Treatment: there is no any antidote, just have to do extra care.
. Hepatitis
Hepatitis lead to inflammation of liver, caused by viruses, alcohol, drugs, toxins or due to immune system disorder. This virus spread through contaminated water, food or seafood.
Symptoms: fever, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, dark urine or stomach pain.
Treatment: rest and keep body hydrated, avoid alcohol and harmful medicines which damage liver, eat healthy items and keep monitoring livers health.
4- Toxin-Related Illnesses
. Ciguatera poisoning
Ciguatera poisoning is caused by eating Reef fish, these fishes are contaminated with ciguatoxins, a toxin produce by algae. This poisoning mostly happen when you eat large amount of Reef-dwelling fishes like snapper, mackerel, barracuda, moray eel or grouper.
Symptoms: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness, muscles aches, low heart rate, or low blood pressure.
Treatment: after poisoning, concern with your doctor and keep your body hydrated. Take medicine according to symptoms like antiemetic (for nausea and vomiting), pain reliever (for muscles aches) or gabapentin (for nerves pain) and avoid alcohol, caffeine, chicken, fish or nuts for several weeks.
Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning
It is a kind of food poisoning, it occurs when you consume shellfishes containing Sani toxins (a powerful natural toxin). This toxin is prepared by algae.
Symptoms: headache, dizziness, nausea, vomiting and numbness of face, tongue or lips.
In some severe cases, PSP may lead to paralysis or respiratory system failure.
Treatment: there is no any specific antidote for PSP but active charcoal can absorb your body toxins. Keep your body always hydrated and take rest until recover. In some severe cases oxygen therapy and ventilation is required.
. Scomorbid Poisoning
Type of food poising happens when a person consume fish (like tuna, sardines, bonito, mackerel or anchovies) that contain high level of histamine. This happens when fish is not stored proper after being caught, then the amino acid (histidine) is converted in histamine by bacteria’s.
Symptoms: Headache, sweating, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, flushing, rapid heartbeat.
In severe cases this food poisoning cause low blood pressure and difficulty in breathing.
Treatment: take antihistamines medicines to reduce redness, itching or rashes, keep body hydrated and seek for medical help if condition get severe. Take rest and monitor your health then concern with doctor.
Prevention Tips
Maryland seafood food poisoning incident was unusual, even though food poisoning cases are common there. Keeping all this in mind people who ever travel to Maryland should know safe prevention steps.
To prevent seafood food poisoning you should:
. Always buy from trusted source or licensed restaurant or store.
. Avoid eating raw and under cooked food in restaurants and make sure seafood in cooked properly.
. Ensure shellfishes like clams and oysters are open during cooking.
. In kitchen handle with care to prevent cross contamination and after cooking wash your utensil (knife, board and pan).
This small step will help you to prevent seafood poisoning.
How to Handle Suspected Seafood Illness
If you fell unwell after eating seafood, here what you should do:
. Keep yourself hydrated, to prevent dehydration caused by diarrhea and vomiting.
. Contact you doctor if your feel unwell.
. Keep monitoring on your health, if get serious seek medical attention.
. Report your incident in the local health department of Maryland if the seafood was from any restaurant or market to prevent further seafood poisoning cases.
Maryland’s Initiatives for Safe Seafood
After Maryland seafood food poisoning incident in NAFCO company. Maryland State has issued food safety law for restaurants and strict rules for harvesting and processing to agencies. The Maryland health department has ensured strict tagging and certification policies, start monitoring water quality in companies who harvest seafood and voluntary quality assurance programs to control and minimize risk of food poisoning.
Conclusion
In Maryland seafood food poisoning in common, every month hundreds of cases are reported. As seafood is the cultural part of Maryland so every month thousands of visitors travels to Maryland to enjoy their cultural seafood dishes. Every visitor should know prevention step because in Maryland seafood food poisoning in usual.
After the NAFCO Company incident Maryland health department has ensured strict rule to restaurant to minimize the risk of food poisoning