Health officials are advising people to avoid eating raw shellfish, or swimming with open wounds, which are the primary manners in which it is spread, according to WTSP.
One person had consumed raw shellfish and swam in the Pacific Ocean but did not report any direct contact with marine mammals; the second person reported infrequent visits to the coast and no contact with marine mammals but had consumed raw shellfish.
As frightening as that is, consumers are more likely to be exposed to this pathogen when eating raw or undercooked shellfish than by swimming.
Apart from the obvious distractions of swimming, eating shellfish, and wandering aimlessly past galleries filled with dubious watercolors painted by millionaires in their downtime, I also got to eat out in some of the Cape's famed restaurants.
Many of our waterways are unfit for swimming or shellfish harvesting due to high levels of bacteria from stormwater runoff; there are rivers throughout the southeast and beyond whose fish contain too much mercury and heavy metals for safe consumption.
Eating raw shellfish is a frequent cause of illness, though swimming in warm sea waters can also cause infection.
Without sharks to keep their numbers in check, researchers fear the migrating rays will drive down shellfish populations as they swim through, to the point where they are unable to recover.
The otters were absurdly cute, stupidly cute, swimming on their backs, holding actual rocks on their bellies, using these rocks to break open shellfish and then enjoying their meals like mustachioed men.
More common routes of exposure are skin contact, swallowing water while swimming (or licking it off fur, in the case of pets) and eating contaminated fish or shellfish.
They move on eagerly to hand-cut mint pappardelle with a rich lamb-shank ragout; melting short ribs swimming with creamy polenta; and broad bowls of paella Valenciana, the saffron-scented rice cooked just right and piled high with shellfish, calamari and chorizo.
