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

Staphylococcal Poisoning

Staphylococcal Poisoning
Food intoxications are those diseases in which the causative organism grows in the food and produces a chemical substance in the food that is toxic to humans and other animals.

The symptoms of staphylococcal poisoning are nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, diarrhea, and prostration.

While the symptoms last, suffering may be acute, but this is usually for a period of only a few hours.

Generally, the patient recovers without complications. The incubation period after ingestion or eating food containing the toxin is from 1 to 7 usually 3 to 6 hours.

Staphylococcal poisoning is often wrongly called ptomaine poisoning. Ptomaines are produced by bacteria in some foods when extreme decomposition occurs.

Most ptomaines are not poisonous, and it is unlikely that many people would eat foods decomposed to this extend. It is probable, therefore, that ptomaine poisoning rarely occurs.
Staphylococcal Poisoning

Salmonella: significance as a pathogen

Salmonella: significance as a pathogen
Two clinical entities cause by Salmonella are recognized: enteric fever (a severe, life threatening illness) and the more common food poisoning syndrome. In both cases, the organisms enter the body via oral route.

Enteric fever, commonly referred to as typhoid fever, is primarily caused by the one species Salmonella typhi, but other salmonella are potentially capable of producing this syndrome. The symptoms of enteric fever are generally not elicited through the intestinal tract, although the route of entry into the body is primarily oral. However, a short period of vomiting and diarrhea sometimes occurs in the first day or two in typhoid fever. The onset times vary considerably between typhoid and paratyphoid enteric fevers. Onset times for typhoid are usually 8 – 15 days, seldom as short as 30 – 35 days: while onset time for paratyphoid fever tends to be shorter, and may be so short as to suggest food poisoning. The usual symptoms of salmonellosis are headache, malaise, anorexia, and congestion of the mucous membranes, especially of the upper respiratory tract. Bacteremia generally occurs on the first week of illness.

The food poisoning syndrome is characterized by a self-limiting acute gastroenteritis. Contaminated food or water is the usual, but not the only, vehicle. The incubation period varies from 6 to 48 hours and generally falls within a range of 12 – 36 hrs. Variation in the incubation time may be attributed to the size of the infecting dose, the virulence (degree of pathogenicity) of the organisms, the susceptibility of the host, and the physicochemical composition of the transmitting food. Symptoms include diarrhea, abdominal cramps, vomiting and fever which generally last from 1 - 7 days. However, the organisms may be excreted in the feces for many weeks after symptoms subside.

Salmonellosis may be confused clinically with staphylococcal intoxications, but there are important distinctions. Salmonella has a longer incubation period than staphylococci and is usually accompanied by fever, which is absent in staphylococcal intoxication. And, unlike Salmonella food poisoning, the acute symptoms of staphylococcal food poisoning normally disappear within 24 hrs.

In some case, the gastroenteritis may be followed by extraintestinal invasion resulting in enteric fever, which is more, likely to occur in the very young, the aged and debilitated patients.
Salmonella: significance as a pathogen