National case definition: Paralytic shellfish poisoning

Date of last revision/review: May 2008

National notification

Only confirmed cases of disease should be notified.

Type of surveillance

Routine case-by-case notification to the federal level

Case classification

Confirmed case

Clinical illness and:

• detection of saxitoxin in epidemiologically related, ingested shellfish

  or

• detection of high levels of dinoflagellates associated with shellfish poisoning in water from which epidemiologically related shellfish were gathered

Probable case

Clinical illness within 12 hours of consumption of bivalve mollusk shellfish (e.g. oysters, clams, mussels)

Clinical evidence

Clinical illness is characterized by neurological symptoms such as paresthesia and/or paralysis involving the mouth and extremities, which may be accompanied by gastrointestinal symptoms.

ICD code(s)

ICD-10 code(s)

T61

Toxic effect of noxious substances eaten as seafood

T61.2 Other fish and shellfish poisoning

ICD-9/ICD-9CM code(s)

988

Toxic effect of noxious substances eaten as food

988.0 Fish and shellfish

Comments

Probable case definitions are provided as guidelines to assist with case finding and public health management, and are not for national notification purposes.