Failure to detect hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in certified shellfish from New England

In this study, hard- and soft-shell clams harvested during a one-year period from state approved (certified) clam beds in Maine, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island were tested for HBsAg by radioimmunoassay. HBsAg could not be detected in clam viscera. The role of bivalve mollusk ingestion in transmission of Hepatitis B remains speculative.