Botulism: definition and classification

Botulism (from Latin botulus, botulism food poisoning "sausage") is a rare but serious paralytic illness caused by a nerve toxin, botulin, that is produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. Botulin is the most potent known toxin, blocking nerve function and leading to respiratory and musculoskeletal paralysis.

There are three main kinds of botulism:

Foodborne botulism is a form of foodborne illness and is caused by eating foods that contain the botulism toxin.

Wound botulism is caused by toxin produced botulism disease from a wound infected with Clostridium dogs botulism botulinum.

Infant botulism is caused by consuming the spores of the botulinum bacteria, which then grow in botulism matambre botulism outbreak from garlic in oil the intestines and release toxin.

All forms of botulism can be fatal and are considered medical emergencies. Foodborne botulism can be especially dangerous as a public health problem because many people can be poisoned from a single contaminated food source.

In the United States an average of 110 food-borne botulism cases of botulism are reported each year. Of these, approximately 25% are foodborne, 72% are infant botulism, and the rest are wound botulism.

Outbreaks of foodborne botulism involving two or more persons occur during most years and moldy bread botulism usually are caused by eating contaminated home-canned foods. The number of cases of foodborne and infant botulism preparation of botulism toxin has changed little in recent years, but botulism + case report form wound botulism has increased because of the use of black-tar heroin, especially in California.
Botulism: definition and classification

Foodborne botulism symptoms

Foodborne botulism is a form of foodborne illness and is caused by eating foods that contain the botulism toxin. The severity of illness varies from a mild to a very serious disease resulting in death within 24 hours.

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

The symptoms appear 4 –36 hr after ingestion of toxins which include nausea, vomiting, headache, dry mouth, constipation, double vision, slurred speech, muscle spasms and muscle weakness.

The disease progresses to as bilateral descending weakness of the peripheral muscles, leading to flaccid paralysis.

It first affects the upper limbs then the lower limbs and exhibit breathing difficulty because of diaphragm muscle weakness. The heart function also weakens and death follows.

Death is due to respiratory paralysis and occurs in 1-7 days after onset of the disease.

Patients with an early onset of clinical symptoms and patients over the age of 60 experience a longer clinical course and fare worse than younger patients who have a later onset of the disease.
Foodborne botulism symptoms

Clostridium botulinum in food

Clostridium botulinum is a rod shaped, spore forming anaerobic bacteria. It is causative agent of botulism (foodborne intoxication). Some of the notable characteristics are its heat-resistant spore and their widespread distribution.

Some strains of Clostridium botulinum are psychotropic. The spores produced by Clostridium botulinum are themselves harmless: they can remain dormant in soil or on food for years.

The spores will survive most thermal processes except those specifically designed to eliminate them (e.g., 12D thermal processing of low-acid canned foods). If such a process is not used, one must assume that spore are present in the food.

The trouble comes when the spires start to germinate. This can happen only in the absence of oxygen, in air tight environments – whether in home canned foodstuffs or in commercially produced vacuum sealed cans or plastic packages.

If the food is to be packaged in an anaerobic or reduced oxygen atmosphere, measures to inhibit the growth and toxin production the organism are necessary.

Strict temperature control prevents the growth of Clostridium botulinum. It produces a delay toxin but does not grow and produce toxin below 10°C and under pH 4.6.

Sole reliance on refrigeration to ensure safety is risky. Botulism is caused by neurotoxin produced Clostridium botulinum during growth in foods.

The toxin cause the most lethal of the food poisoning disease. Despite the fact that the organisms are strict anaerobes, they are common in soil, marine sediments and fresh water mud.

Botulism affects the nervous system, presenting as fatigue, double vision, slurred speech, and respiratory failure. Severe cases can cause death.

Clostridium botulinum in food