Gastrointestinal illnesses potentially linked to raw oysters sickened nearly 200 people, according to health officials in Southern California, who urged residents to take extra precautions with shellfish. The illnesses, recorded in Los Angeles County and San Diego, may be associated with oysters imported from a specific harvest in northwest Mexico. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said in a statement on Wednesday that there were “more than 150 suspected local cases of gastrointestinal illness linked to the consumption of raw oysters, likely caused by norovirus.”Officials there warned people to ask restaurants about where they sourced their oysters from, and to avoid eating oysters from Laguna De Guerrero Negro and Laguna Manuela in Baja California, Mexico, and from Bahia Salina in Sonora, Mexico. The department said it was still working to confirm the source of the illness.

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Persons: norovirus Organizations: Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, ”, Laguna De Guerrero Negro, Laguna Locations: Southern California, Los Angeles County, San Diego, Mexico, Los, Laguna, Baja California, Bahia Salina, Sonora