Hood Canal oysters draw FDA warning

The Food and Drug Administration on Friday advised people not to eat raw oysters harvested in a particular area of Washington state, citing bacterial illnesses that have sickened at least six people in that state and California.

The state Department of Health closed the area associated with the vibriosis illness, the southern tip of the Hood Canal, and has asked commercial harvesters and dealers who obtained oysters from this area to recall them.

Consumers who have recently purchased oysters should check with the place of purchase and ask if the oysters were harvested from the affected area. Symptoms of vibriosis, caused by the vibrio parahaemolyticus bacteria, include diarrhea, abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting, headache, fever and chills and usually appear within 24 hours after eating the oysters. Severe disease is rare and occurs mostly in people with compromised immune systems.

To avoid the illness, consumers should make sure the oysters are cooked at 145 degrees to kill the bacteria, according to the FDA.

For more information, consumers can call the FDA at (888) 463-6332 and visit www.doh.wa.gov/.

Chicago

Wienermobile gets topping worth $50

Not even a giant hot dog can escape the long arm of the law.

One of the Oscar Mayer Wienermobiles, a fiberglass behemoth on a national promotional tour, was discovered parked illegally – hazard lights blinking – on a major downtown street.

The violation in a no-parking zone on ritzy Michigan Avenue earned the driver of the 27-foot sausage a $50 ticket.

The officer who issued the ticket had already called a tow truck when the driver showed up to claim his fiberglass wiener-on-wheels. “We have access to tow trucks that could have handled a Polish sausage, not just a hot dog,” said Matt Smith, of the city’s Streets and Sanitation Department.

Washington

Giuliani backs off ground zero claims

Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani said Friday that he misspoke when he said he spent as much time, if not more, at ground zero exposed to the same health risks as workers combing the site after the Sept. 11 attacks.

“I think I could have said it better,” he told nationally syndicated radio host Mike Gallagher. “You know, what I was saying was, ‘I’m there with you.’ “

The former New York mayor upset some firefighters and police officers when he said Thursday in Cincinnati that he was at ground zero “as often, if not more, than most of the workers.”

“I was there working with them. I was exposed to exactly the same things they were exposed to. So in that sense, I’m one of them,” he told reporters at a Los Angeles Dodgers-Cincinnati Reds baseball game.

Fire and police officials responded angrily, saying Giuliani did not do the same work as those involved in the rescue, recovery and cleanup from the 2001 terrorist attacks, which left many workers sick and injured.