Since then, all seafood samples analyzed by FDA and CDC have been negative. The state reopened the oyster beds in Mobile Bay on Nov. 4. Although the shipboard samples were found to be positive for the Latin American strain on Nov. 6, oyster samples from Mobile Bay waters on Nov. 12 showed no evidence of the organism. FDA will continue sampling Mobile Bay oyster beds to ensure that they remain free the organism. Consumers have been advised not to eat raw oysters or raw seafood and to thoroughly cook them as a precaution against illness.
Thorough cooking destroys the cholera organism.
Federal testing of Gulf Coast seafood products as well as products from Latin American countries has failed to disclose any evidence of the toxin-producing cholera strain on any foods sold in this country. The Coast Guard plans to notify shipping agents and owners and urge them to comply with the voluntary guidelines of the International Maritime Organization for the exchange of ballast water. The International Maritime Organization recently adopted voluntary guidelines for the at-sea exchange of ballast water in order to reduce the spread of disease and nonindigenous nuisance species that might be in the water. Many vessels have a large holding tank similar to the one tested positive for cholera in the Port of Mobile. It is illegal to discharge the contents of a holding tank into U.S. navigable waters.