The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued yet another recall for oysters harvested from Washington state. Per the latest advisory, it is now believed that a portion of the Hammersley Inlet Growing Area may be contaminated with norovirus.

The latest oysters to be recalled were harvested by Ruco's Shellfish, based in Shelton, Washington, during the period Dec. 2-17, 2024, and then distributed to restaurants and food retailers in Washington and Oregon. It's possible the oysters may have been distributed to other states as well, the FDA noted in its recall notice.

The Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference (ISSC), the federal body that manages the National Shellfish Sanitation Program, had said in a separate notice late last month that the Washington State Department of Health (WSDH) was in the process of conducting the recall, as previously reported by Undercurrent News. 

Ruco's Shellfish has not been the only one hit with a recall related to a potential norovirus outbreak in oysters. In December 2024, the FDA issued three recalls -- the first for Rudy's Shellfish, also based in Shelton, Washington. That notice included Manila clams as well as oysters. All the shellfish were harvested in Pickering Passage between Nov. 15 and Dec. 11, 2024.

S&M Shellfish of San Francisco, California, was the next to issue a recall due to a norovirus outbreak. It expanded across the border into British Columbia, Canada. The  oysters, which were sold as Fanny Bay, Buckley Bay and Royal Miyagi oysters, were harvested in BC during the week of Dec. 1-9.

The final recall notice of 2024 related to the oyster norovirus outbreak came from Taylor Shellfish Canada. In the notice issued by the FDA, the company noted that its Fanny Bay, Sunseeker and Cloudy Bay oysters, harvested in BC, may be contaminated with norovirus.

As previously reported by Undercurrent, it's believed that oysters were responsible for a norovirus outbreak that sickened more than 80 people at an event hosted by the Los Angeles Times.

Norovirus is a highly contagious foodborne illness. Shellfish often become contaminated with the virus when untreated human sewage enters the marine environment. While any bivalve shellfish can be contaminated with norovirus, norovirus outbreaks are "more often linked to oysters because they are commonly eaten raw," WSDH advises.