MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Toxic tide and dangerous vibrio in southern Chile.

Magallanes Region Sanitary authorities have closed most of the region's coastal area for molluscs harvesting because of an extremely toxic red tide which forced the hospitalization of a woman in Punta Arenas last Saturday.

Similarly further north in the Puerto Montt area, local officials at least 201 cases have been reported suffering from parahaemolyticus vibrio, an enteropathogenic bacterium related to gastrointestinal illness.

Tests in certain points of Magallanes coast signalled 9.138 micrograms of the paralyzing toxin, when the maximum allowed for human consumption is 80.

The red tide outbreak has been described by Punta Arenas sanitary authorities as "virulent" since earlier tests in the last seven days had a reading of 1,500 micrograms.

The hospitalized woman admitted having consumed raw molluscs extracted from a banned area and which proved to have 4,781 micrograms of paralyzing toxin per 100 grams of the produce.

However Chief Sanitary Official Sergio Ruiz insisted there's no ban on the consumption of molluscs as long as they are purchased legally with the official certification.

In Puerto Montt most of the contaminated patients admitted having consumed raw molluscs. Local authorities have launched an aggressive campaign insisting that all molluscs at this time of the year must be cooked before consumption.

The vibrio parahaemolyticus is described as a bacterium in the same family as those that cause cholera. It lives in brackish saltwater and causes gastrointestinal illness in humans.

When ingested, V. parahaemolyticus causes watery diarrhea often with abdominal cramping, nausea, vomiting fever and chills. Usually these symptoms occur within 24 hours of ingestion. Illness is usually self-limited and lasts 3 days. Severe disease is rare and occurs more commonly in persons with weakened immune systems. It can also cause an infection of the skin when an open wound is exposed to warm seawater. Most people become infected by eating raw or undercooked shellfish,