AUGUSTA - The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention is urging people to properly wash fiddleheads harvested from parts of northern Aroostook County affected by last month's flood.

Health officials recommend to thoroughly cook fiddleheads by boiling them for 10 minutes or steaming for 20 minutes.

“These precautions should always be taken before consuming any fiddleheads, but they may be especially important in areas affected by the recent flooding in the St. John River Valley,” Dr. Dora Anne Mills, the state's public health director, said in a statement.

“Flood waters can become contaminated with bacteria and with fuel or other chemicals," Mills said.

During the 1990s, several outbreaks of vomiting and diarrhea associated with eating raw or lightly-cooked fiddleheads were reported in Canada and New York.

Food safety experts have since recommended that fiddleheads always be washed thoroughly and cooked well.

For facts on fiddleheads, go here.

People who feel ill as a result of eating fiddleheads should call the Maine CDC at 1-800-821-5821.