The Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risks (Coprisjal) implemented a precautionary sanitary closure in the area of the Malecón de Puerto Vallarta due to the presence of a marine biotoxin above the levels allowed by the regulations.
Dagoberto García Mejía, commissioner of Coprisjal, explained that the toxin identified in the sampled surveys is saxitoxin, which is a microalgae that affects bivalve molluscs (with shell), so the commercialization, storage and consumption of this type of food is forbidden until the sanitary closure is lifted.
He stressed that saxitoxin has paralyzing effects that can cause damage to health if a contaminated bivalve mollusc is consumed, which is why the decision was made to issue the closure.
“The problem with this toxin is that eating food contaminated with this toxin causes paralysis of the body, there is no problem to bathe, people can bathe. Where you have to be very careful is in the consumption of bivalve molluscs like clams, oysters, that is, they can not be consumed at this time,” he said.
García Mejía explained that several marine biotoxin detection samplings were conducted to confirm the presence of saxitoxin, which yielded a concentration of 951.92 micrograms / 100 milliliters .
He indicated that the sanitary precautionary ban covers from the Malecón area to the Puerto Vallarta Marina area.
