Eating red tide-contaminated shellfish can make you sick — possibly really sick — with brevetoxicity, also known as neurotoxic shellfish poisoning. Know where your seafood comes from. Do not harvest or eat shellfish from waterways where there's a red tide bloom.

What effect does red tide have on humans?

Coming into contact with toxic water

Reactions to red tide may be worse in individuals with asthma, emphysema, or any other chronic lung disease. The toxins associated with red tide may also cause skin irritation, rashes, and burning or sore eyes.

How long does it take to get sick from red tide?

People who eat shellfish contaminated with red tide can experience gastrointenstinal and neurological distress, nausea, diarrhea, dizziness, muscular aches, tingling in the tongue, lips, throat and extremities. Symptoms usually appear within a few hours after eating contaminated shellfish and vanish in a few days.