KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska
One person was hospitalized and two others treated and released this past weekend because they ate local clams tainted with Paralytic Shellfish Poison harvested from local beaches.
Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation spokesman Mike Hyre said that the butter clams were gathered at Chiniak and Middle bays and Mayflower Beach.
PSP, as it is known, is highly dangerous and can lead to death if the level of toxin consumed is great enough.
Symptoms include tingling fingers and other body parts, dizziness, numbness, and shortness of breath. In extreme cases breathing is labored as muscles needed to work the lungs shut down–eventually leading to death.
DEC warns that people on Kodiak Island should not eat locally caught clams, as there are no beaches certified as safe for shellfish collection.
DEC notes that the clams and shellfish you eat in a restaurant have been carefully tested and certified as safe from PSP.
In an unrelated incident, one person in Juneau is hospitalized in stable condition after eating tainted shellfish from Auke Bay.
