ABSTRACT
The bioaccumulation and disposition of virus is only one aspect of the general phenomenon of shellfish uptake and disposition of particulates in their quest of food. Shellfish selected for discussion are oysters, clams, and mussels, the bivalve forms most often involved in transmission of virus-caused diseases. Filter-feeding shellfish are members of the Pelecypoda, a class within the phylum Mollusca characterized by possession of two external calcified valves hinged together by an elastic, noncalcified ligament. The saltwater bivalve forms are estuarine in habitat. The virus carriage state in shellfish was found by the author to be of potential public health significance during the course of an investigation of an experimental aquaculture system proposed for the production of shellfish on a commercial scale. The health hazard potential posed for those ingesting virus-polluted shellfish in either raw or inadequately cooked form has led to virus depletion procedures calculated to eliminate any existing virus carriage state.
