AUSTIN (December 6, 2009)--State officials are recalling all oysters harvested from San Antonio Bay on the Texas coast after people in two other states were sickened by norovirus after eating them.

Oysters that were harvested in the bay between Nov. 16 and Nov. 25 are included in the recall, the Texas Department of State Health Services said.

Consumers should who bought the oysters should dispose of them, officials said.

The Texas agency received reports that about a dozen people in North Carolina and South Carolina got sick with norovirus after eating the oysters.

Health officials in those states, with assistance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, are investigating.
Noroviruses are a group of viruses that cause gastroenteritis.

Norovirus typically is not life threatening and does not generally cause long-term effects.

There have been no reports of sickness in Texas because of the oysters.