The New York City Health Department is investigating one confirmed and one suspect case of botulism, a rare but serious foodborne illness caused by an extremely potent toxin. Both patients are Chinese-speaking Queens residents and had recently purchased unrefrigerated fresh bulk tofu from the same store in Flushing.
Botulism impairs the body’s nervous system.
In January and April 2011, CDC provided antitoxin for treatment of two persons with toxin type A botulism associated with consumption of potato soup produced by two companies. On January 28, 2011, an Ohio resident, aged 29 years, was hospitalized after 5 days of progressive dizziness, blurred vision, dysphagia, and difficulty breathing. The patient required
Quinault Tribal Enterprise of Taholah, WA is recalling all canned seafood products including all Salmons, smoked and non-smoked; Tuna, smoked and non-smoked; Smoked Sturgeon; Minced Razor Clams; smoked Razor Clams; and smoked Steelhead. The canned seafood products are being recalled because they were not adequately processed according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s low-acid
Botulism is a rare, life-threatening paralytic illness caused by neurotoxins produced by an anaerobic, gram-positive, spore-forming bacterium, Clostridium botulinum. Unlike Clostridium perfringens, which requires the ingestion of large numbers of viable cells to cause symptoms, the symptoms of botulism are caused by the ingestion of highly toxic, soluble exotoxins produced by C. botulinum while growing in foods.
Overview
These rod-shaped bacteria grow best under anaerobic (or, low oxygen), low-salt, and low-acid conditions. Bacterial growth is inhibited by refrigeration below 4° C., heating above 121° C, and high water-activity or acidity. And although the toxin is destroyed by heating to 85° C. for at least five minutes, the spores formed by the bacteria are not inactivated unless the food is heated under high pressure to 121° C. for at least twenty minutes.
The incidence of foodborne botulism is extremely low. Nonetheless, the extreme danger posed by the bacteria has required that “intensive surveillance is maintained for botulism cases in the United States, and every case is treated as a public health emergency.” This danger includes a mortality rate of up to 65% when victims are not treated immediately and properly. Most of the botulism events that are reported annually in the United States are associated with home-canned foods that have not been safely processed. Very occasionally, however, commercially- processed foods are implicated as the source of a botulism events, including sausages, beef stew, canned vegetables, and seafood products.Continue Reading Botulism
