Four people from a Washington County fishing household were hospitalized late Tuesday with symptoms of red tide poisoning within several hours of sharing a meal of mussels, according to state health and marine resource officials.

There have been no documented cases of human red tide poisionings in Maine since at least 1980, according to state health officials.

Samples of mussels taken from the Washington County home were highly contaminated with the toxin that causes paralytic shellfish poisoning, according to a joint press release from DHHS and the Maine Department of Marine Resources.

Early information indicates the probable source of the mussels was a drifting barrel found by a lobsterman off the Washington County coast, rather than from a mussel bed. State officials said indications are that the mussels taken off the barrel were for the lobsterman’s personal use.

The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention sent a health alert to health care providers early this morning. The Maine CDC is now assisting the Maine Department of Marine Resources to determine the source of the contaminated mussels and to assure that any harvested shellfish available to the public continues to be safe to eat.

Paralytic shellfish poisoning – also called red tide – is a marine biotoxin that is associated with certain types of algae blooms in coastal waters. Bivalve shellfish eat and filter the toxic algae, and the concentrations of the toxin can cause serious illness or death if eaten by humans.

Consumers concerned about obtaining safe shellfish should buy from certified shellfish dealers whose operations undergo rigorous public health screening and auditing.

Symptoms of PSP include tingling of face and neck areas, headaches, nausea, and muscle weakness. In extreme cases, these symptoms can lead to respiratory failure. Symptoms usually occur within two hours of eating contaminated shellfish. Anyone who has eaten shellfish and has these symptoms should seek immediate medical care.

The Maine Department of Marine Resources monitors shellfish beds closely and closes areas to shellfish harvesting if levels of the toxic algae are noted to be high.

The Department of Marine Resources' Public Health Division routinely tests shellfish along Maine’s entire coast for harmful red tide levels. Current red tide closure areas include the area from Cutler to the Canadian Border (not including all of Cobscook Bay), an area around Isle au Haut and Frenchboro, and part of southern Maine south of Biddeford.