General Information

Event name: US-00-005
Country: UNITED STATES
Nature of the harmful event:
Seafood toxins
Event directly affected:
Toxicity detected: Yes (Approximate range: 524 µg STXeq /100 g.)
Associated syndrome: PSP
Unexplained toxicity: No
Species implicated in toxin transmission (transvector):
Report the outcome of a monitoring programme: Yes (Oregon Dept of Agriculture.)
Event occurred before in this location: Yes
Individuals to contact: CANNON, Deborah F.

Location & Date

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Location: Latitude: , Longitude:
General location information: Oregon coast., Oregon, Pacific NW, USA.
HAB Area code(s): US-22
Additional location information: This event was evident along the entire coast line, north to south, where intertidal mussels are available for sampling. Shellfish sampled from coastal bays did not reach toxic levels during this event.
Bloom event dates (yyyy/mm/dd):
Quarantine levels dates (yyyy/mm/dd):
Additional date-related information: Detection date: 18/07/00. Final date: 31/08/00. This event has a rapid onset on the southern section of the Oregon coast.

Microalgae

Causative organism known: No
Causative Species/Genus: Pseudo-nitzschia spp. ( cells/L)
Abundant at several sites along the San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara coast by beginning of July. By August also abundant in Monterey and farther north in Humboldt Bay. Pattern continued through September except in Santa Barbara, where relative abundance
Co-Ocurring Species/Genus:
Chlorophyll concentration, if known: µg/l
Additional bloom information:
Event-related bibliography:

Environmental Conditions

Weather: Turbidity (NTU): Wind direction:
Stratified water: No Oxygen content (nL/L): Wind velocity:
Temperature (°C): Oxygen saturation %: Current Direction:
Sechhi disk (m): Salinity: Current Velocity: 0
Nutrient information:
Temperature Range During Event: Max: °C, Min: °C
Salinity Range During Event:
Bloom location in the water column:
Growth:
Growth Comments
Additional Environmental information:

Toxin Assay Information

Species containing the toxin Toxin type Toxin details Max. concentration Assay type
California mussel Saxitoxins STX eq 524 Bioassay-Mouse
Kit used: No Type of kit used:
Additional information: Levels in mussels sampled weekly rose from <40 µgms/100 gms toxins on July 13, 2000 to 524 µgms/100gms on July 18, 2000, at the Gold Beach site. This was to be the peak level of the event. The other key mussel sampling site on the coast had levels > 80 during the same time frame of approximately July 18 to August 31, 00.
Economic losses:
Management decision: Recreational shellfish harvest areas on entire coast closed over 5 weeks. No commercial shellfish areas affected.
Additional harmful effect information: There were no confirmed reports of water discoloration or other signs of the bloom event. No illnesses were reported.
IOC/UNESCO ISSHA
IOC/UNESCO ICES PICES