Botulism

Between 1817 and 1822, Justinus Kerner district medical of Wurttemberg in southern Germany published the first complete and accurate description of what he called wurstgift or sausage poison.

The name of ‘botulism’ was given by Marie van Ermengem, professor of bacteriology at the medical school of Ghent.

He gave the name Bacillus botulinus to the bacterium at is the illness’s root cause. ‘Botulinus’ means ‘sausage’ in Latin, to describe back in 1820 outbreak which involved the consumption of blood sausage.

Botulism is characterized by symmetric descending flaccid paralysis resulting from the effect of botulinum neurotoxin produced by Clostridium botulinum, gram positive, anaerobic, spore-forming coccus.

Clostridium botulinum is heat resistant and is found ubiquitously in soil, improperly canned foods, corn syrup, and honey.

At least seven serologically distinct but structurally similar types of botulinum toxin have been described: A, B, C, D, E, F and G. Serotypes A, B, E and F affect humans, whereas types C and D cause illness in other animals.

The four main clinical presentations of botulism include infant botulism, foodborne botulism, adult intestinal colonization, and wound botulism. Additionally because of the potency of the toxin the possibility of botulism as a bioterrorism agent or biological weapon is a great concern.

With foodborne botulism, symptoms begin within 6 hours to 2 weeks after eating toxin-containing food. Symptoms of botulism include double vision, blurred vision, drooping eyelids, slurred speech, difficulty swallowing, dry mouth, muscle weakness that always descends throughout body.

Foodborne botulism is rare, but it may kill rapidly, and contaminated products may expose many person. Foodborne botulism therefore represents a medical and a pubic health emergency that places a premium on rapid, effective communication between clinicians and public health officials.
Botulism