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<div><font color="#1F497D">Tuesday July 31, 3 PM (EOPS flight). High blooming activity in South and Central Sound. </font></div>
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<div><font color="#1F497D">Intense and extensive red-brown blooms in Case Inlet, Budd Inlet, Quartermaster Harbor, Sinclair, East Passage (Vashon Island).</font></div>
<div><font color="#1F497D"> Many other places with green-olive colored algal blooms. </font></div>
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<div><font color="#1F497D">We will cover the blooms in EOPS scheduled for release this Thursday.</font></div>
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<div><font color="#1F497D">The Marine Waters Monitoring Unit</font></div>
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<div><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><span style="font-size:10pt;">_____<img src="cid:7F7235B1CF6A91469FEDFD91366062DD@wa.gov"><font color="#1F497D"> </font><img src="cid:BD368C13C1C29B40821F3B3A551C5BBD@wa.gov"><font color="#1F497D"> </font>__<img src="cid:AAD1FA318FBD20439F1035061A97C549@wa.gov"><font color="#1F497D">
</font><img src="cid:E28C43529FEE9348B5E16862C0C3FC58@wa.gov"><font color="#1F497D"> </font><img src="cid:5940E160FF6DCC4D8B497B3C80FB57B4@wa.gov"><font color="#1F497D"> </font><img src="cid:C64539B6FFC12D4BBA4FA538D981F2F5@wa.gov"><font color="#1F497D">
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</font><b>From:</b> Church, Timothy J (DOH) <br>
<b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, July 31, 2012 2:27 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> GOV dist Agency Communication Directors<br>
<b>Subject:</b> DOH News Release -- Dangerous levels of Paralytic Shellfish Poison biotoxin found in many areas</span></font></div>
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<div style="margin-top:30pt;"><font face="Impact" size="7"><span style="font-size:44pt;"> </span></font></div>
<div><font face="Impact" size="7"><span style="font-size:44pt;"><img width="295" height="130" src="rtfimage://"></span></font></div>
<div style="margin-top:30pt;"><font face="Impact" size="7"><span style="font-size:44pt;"> News Release</span></font></div>
<div><font face="Times New Roman" size="2" color="#1F497D"><span style="font-size:10pt;"> </span></font></div>
<div><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size:12pt;"><b>For immediate release:</b> July 31, 2012 (12-104)</span></font></div>
<div><font face="Times New Roman" size="2"><span style="font-size:10pt;"> </span></font></div>
<div><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size:12pt;">Contact: <a href="mailto:julie.graham@doh.wa.gov"><font color="blue"><u>Julie Graham</u></font></a>, Communications Office 360-236-4022</span></font></div>
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<div align="center" style="text-align:center;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style="font-size:14pt;"><b>Dangerous levels of Paralytic Shellfish Poison biotoxin found in many areas</b></span></font></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align:center;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size:12pt;"><i>Recreational shellfish harvest closures in effect for areas of central and south Puget Sound</i></span></font></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom:12pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size:12pt;"><b>OLYMPIA</b> <font face="Symbol">¾</font> Shellfish collected from a large area of central and south Puget Sound contain enough Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning
(PSP) biotoxin to make people sick. So, the Washington State Department of Health has closed recreational shellfish harvest in Jefferson, Island, Snohomish, Kitsap, King and Pierce Counties. Commercially harvested shellfish have been thoroughly tested and should
be safe to eat.</span></font></div>
<div style="margin-bottom:12pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size:12pt;">Warning signs are posted at beaches used by recreational shellfish harvesters to warn people not to collect shellfish from the closed areas. The closures include
clams, oysters, mussels, scallops, geoduck, and other species of molluscan shellfish. Crab is not included in the closure, but “crab butter” should not be eaten. The PSP toxin is produced by algae that are often more common during the warmest months of the
year.</span></font></div>
<div style="margin-bottom:12pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size:12pt;">People can get very sick from eating shellfish contaminated with the toxin. Marine biotoxins are not destroyed by cooking or freezing. Symptoms of PSP can appear
within minutes or hours and usually begin with tingling lips and tongue, moving to the hands and feet. This is followed by difficulty breathing, and potentially death. Anyone who has eaten shellfish and begins having these symptoms should get medical help immediately.
A person can’t tell if PSP is present by looking at the water or shellfish. For this reason, the term “red tide,” which is often used for PSP, is misleading and inaccurate. PSP can only be detected by laboratory testing.</span></font></div>
<div style="margin-bottom:12pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size:12pt;">Before harvesting shellfish anywhere in Washington, people should check for updated closure information on our <a href="http://www.doh.wa.gov/shellfishsafety.htm"><font color="blue"><u>Shellfish
Safety Website</u></font></a> or call our Biotoxin Hotline at 1-800-562-5632. The <a href="http://www.doh.wa.gov/Home.aspx"><font color="blue"><u>Department of Health website</u></font></a> (doh.wa.gov) is your source for <i>a healthy dose of information</i>.
Also, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Washington-State-Department-of-Health/117762158270896"><font color="blue"><u>find us on Facebook</u></font></a> and <a href="http://www.twitter.com/WA_DeptofHealth"><font color="blue"><u>follow us on Twitter</u></font></a>.</span></font></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align:center;margin-bottom:12pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size:12pt;">###</span></font></div>
<div><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size:12pt;">Tim Church </span></font></div>
<div><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size:12pt;">Dir. of Communications</span></font></div>
<div><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size:12pt;">WA State Dept. of Health </span></font></div>
<div><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size:12pt;">(360) 236-4077,<font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size:10pt;"> </span></font><a href="mailto:timothy.church@doh.wa.gov"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="blue"><span style="font-size:10pt;"><u>timothy.church@doh.wa.gov</u></span></font></a>
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<div><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size:12pt;">For a Healthy Dose of Information: <a href="http://www.doh.wa.gov/"><font color="blue"><u>www.doh.wa.gov</u></font></a></span></font></div>
<div><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#005DAD"><span style="font-size:10pt;"><b>Public Health</b><font face="Times New Roman" color="black"><b> </b></font><font color="#638ABD"><b>- Always Working for a Safer and Healthier Washington</b></font><font face="Times New Roman" color="black">
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