Clostridium botulinum is a large anaerobic Gram-positive bacillus that forms subterminal endospores.There are eight serological varieties of the bacterium denoted by the letters A to H. The toxin from all of these acts in the same way and produces similar symptoms: the motor nerve endings are prevented from releasing acetylcholine, causing flaccid paralysis and symptoms of blurred vision, ptosis, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or constipation, cramps, and respiratory difficulty. Botulinum toxin is broken into eight neurotoxins (labeled as types A, B, C [C1, C2], D, E, F, and G), which are antigenically and serologically distinct but structurally similar. Human botulism is caused mainly by types A, B, E, and (rarely) F. Types C and D cause toxicity only in other animals.In October 2013, scientists released news of the discovery of type H, the first new botulism neurotoxin found in forty years. However, further studies showed type H to be a chimeric toxin composed of parts of types F and A (FA).Some types produce a characteristic putrefactive smell and digest meat (types A and some of B and F); these are said to be proteolytic; type E and some types of B, C, D and F are nonproteolytic and can go undetected because there is no strong odor associated with them.When the bacteria are under stress, they develop spores, which are inert.
All of the victims were hospitalized and placed on mechanical ventilation. The Castleberrys Food Company outbreak was the first instance of botulism in commercial canned foods in the United States in over 30 years. One person died, 21 cases were confirmed, and 10 more were suspected in Lancaster, Ohio when a botulism outbreak occurred after a church potluck in April 2015. The suspected source was a salad made from home-canned potatoes. A botulism outbreak occurred in Northern California in May 2017 after 10 people consumed nacho cheese dip served at a gas station in Sacramento County. One man died as a result of the outbreak. United Kingdom
The largest recorded outbreak of foodborne botulism in the United Kingdom occurred in June 1989. A total of 27 patients were affected; one patient died. Twenty-five of the patients had eaten one brand of hazelnut yogurt in the week before the onset of symptoms. Control measures included the cessation of all yogurt production by the implicated producer, the withdrawal of the firms yogurts from sale, the recall of cans of the hazelnut conserve, and advice to the general public to avoid the consumption of all hazelnut yogurts. China
From 1958 to 1983 there were 986 outbreaks of botulism in China involving 4,377 people with 548 deaths. Qapqal disease
After the Chinese Communist Revolution in 1949, a mysterious plague (named Qapqal disease) was noticed to be affecting several Sibe villages in Qapqal Xibe Autonomous County.