Louisiana health officials have closed an oyster harvesting area in Terrebonne Parish they suspect is contaminated with a virus. Fourteen people have gotten sick.
Health officials suspect the contamination was caused by sewage dumped from a boat in the area where the shellfish is harvested. The investigation began when people eating at one New Orleans-area restaurant the weekend of April 28thbecame sick with flu-like symptoms of a norovirus. The illnesses were not life-threatening and no one was hospitalized. A recall is under way of shucked, frozen, breaded and processed oysters, some shipped to Maryland, Texas and Georgia. The harvesting area will be closed for at least three weeks.