KEY POINTS:
Waikato District Health Board is warning people not to eat shellfish taken from a stretch of coast from Kawhia to Taranaki's Oakura Beach.
The warning comes after shellfish taken near Mokau, in Taranaki, was found to have high levels of paralysing shellfish poisoning, or PSP.
The board's principal health protection officer, David Cumming, said kina, mussels, toheroa, pipis, tuatua, oysters and cockles should not be eaten.
However, paua, crab and crayfish could be eaten, as long as the gut was completely removed before cooking.
Eating poisoned shellfish can result in symptoms including tingling or numbness in the face and extremities, difficulties swallowing and breathing and dizziness or double vision.
Extreme cases could result in paralysis and respiratory failure, he said.
Mr Cumming said that anyone feeling ill after eating shellfish should contact a doctor immediately, and keep left-over shellfish for testing.
- NZPA
