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Paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) is caused by ingesting shellfish (mussels, clams, oysters, scallops, snails, and cockles) that contain high levels of extremely potent neurotoxins, most notably saxitoxin. Certain dinoflagellate algae produce these neurotoxins, and shellfish are usually contaminated during huge algal blooms called "red tides." Shellfish contamination can occur in the absence of these blooms, however.
This article reports an outbreak of six cases of PSP in a group of Massachusetts fishermen fishing in Georges Bank off the Nantucket coast who had consumed mussels later proven to have a high saxitoxin level. In addition, four PSP episodes in Alaska are reported, involving 13 cases, one of them fatal. Contaminated mussels and …