Diarrheic shellfish poisoning due to toxic mussel consumption: first recorded outbreak in Greece

Chrissanthy Vassilios Papadopoulou (1, 2) , Vangelis Economou (3) , Moira Brett (4) , Athina Kansouzidou (5) , George Filioussis (6) , Kostas Charalabopoulos (7)

1 Microbiology
2 Microbiology
3 Microbioloyg
4 Food Microbiology
5 Clinical Microbiology
6 Microbiology
7 Physiology

During the week 14-20 January 2000, 120 people visited the Emergency Departments of Thessaloniki (Northern Greece) hospitals complaining of acute gastrointestinal illness after eating mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis). The symptoms indicated Diarrhoeic Shellfish Poisoning and the toxicity of mussels harvested from Thermaikos Gulf in Thessaloniki during the outbreak, was investigated using mouse bioassays. The performed bioassays revealed accumulation of algal toxins in the mussel samples, while high numbers of toxic algae Dinophysis acuminata were identified in water samples from Thermaikos Gulf. Harvesting of mussels was immediately suspended and a monitoring programme for algal blooms was established from then onwards. During a follow up of the mussels' toxicity from January 2000 through January 2005, two more mussel samples were found positive for DSP, one from the area of the outbreak (Thermaikos Gulf) and one from North-western Greece (Amvrakikos Gulf). However, no sporadic cases or outbreaks were reported during this period. Keywords: Diarrheic Shellfish Poisoning, Greece, mussels, algal toxins, Dinophysis, outbreak

Mots clés: Life Sciences

Chrissanthy Vassilios Papadopoulou, Vangelis Economou, Moira Brett, Athina Kansouzidou, George Filioussis, et al.. Diarrheic shellfish poisoning due to toxic mussel consumption: first recorded outbreak in Greece. Food Additives and Contaminants, 2007, 24 (03), pp.297-305. ⟨10.1080/02652030601053139⟩. ⟨hal-00577520⟩