Texas Health Commissioner William R . Archer III said the ban was lifted because the bacteria " Vibrio parahaemolyticus, " which infected Texas oysters and was blamed for diarrheal illnesses in 416 people, cannot flourish in the cooler water temperatures now found in the bay.
22.
A Texas Department of Health telephone hotline still was ringing Tuesday with calls from people who have had intestinal problems they think were caused by eating raw oysters and from health officials who treated possible victims of the recent outbreak of Vibrio parahaemolyticus, officials said.
23.
Well-known contaminants include " Vibrio parahaemolyticus " which is a bacterium found in seawater animals that is temperature sensitive, and " Escherichia coli " which is a bacterium found in coastal waters near highly populated cities having sewage systems discharging waste nearby, or from agricultural discharges.
24.
"Right now, this is the second-largest outbreak of Vibrio parahaemolyticus in the country, and it has the potential of surpassing the one a year ago in the Pacific Northwest, where they had 208 cases and one fatality, " said Dr . Ralph Morris, director of the Galveston County Health District.
25.
Among the most common culprits are bacteria like Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio vulnificus, cousins of the organism that causes cholera, which live in warm water; contamination arising from chemicals like methyl mercury and PCBs; natural toxins like ciguatera, which develops in fish when they eat algae that attach themselves to reefs; and scombroid or histamine poisoning, which is caused when fish is insufficiently chilled.
26.
The Galveston Bay outbreak, which set a national record, was first traced to " Vibrio parahaemolyticus " _ a bacterium that occurs naturally in all waters of the world _ and then narrowed down to a specific virulent strain called " 03 : K6, " which never before had been detected in U . S . waters but is common in Southeast Asian waters.
