Duxbury-Area Oyster Beds Shut Down Due To Bacteria
DUXBURY (CBS) -- Oysters are big business, but some of that business is temporarily shut at a half-dozen local oyster beds in the Duxbury area because of bacteria.
The health department stepped in after at least five people got sick due to a naturally-occurring bacteria called vibrio, which multiplies in warm water.
Read: Precautionary Closure Of Oyster Beds Issued
As soon as the water temperature drops a few more degrees, the bacteria will likely go away in another week or two.
The beds that have been closed are in Duxbury Bay and extend into North Plymouth.
At Legal Seafoods, they test all their shellfish for bacteria.
"It can be steamer clams. It can be oysters. It can be little necks. We hold everything in quarantine for 24 hours and then do a scientific sampling of every batch to make sure there isn't vibrio or red tide in it," says Legal Sea Foods CEO Roger Berkowitz.
And while Legal buys some of their oysters from Duxbury, they get others from different sources.
"If there is an issue or potential issue, we have 14 different varieties of oysters so we can fill in from Maine (and) New Brunswick," Berkowitz told WBZ-TV.
Correction: Due to an editing error this story originally referenced Cape Cod oyster beds. Cape Cod oyster beds are not affected by this bacteria.