AUGUSTA -- Maine health officials say tainted mussels that sent three people to the hospital came from an area that was closed to harvesting.

Officials say the two adults and a teen became sick within several hours of eating the mussels that came from an area that'd been closed to harvesting because of red tide. The mussels were taken by the people for personal use from a rope dangling from a pier.

The case marked the second time in a year in which Mainers were sickened by mussels contaminated with the toxin that causes paralytic shellfish poisoning.

The Maine Bureau of Health says it's important to get shellfish from certified dealers whose operations undergo rigorous public health screening and auditing.