Botulinum toxin
In 1895 (seventy-five years later), Émile van Ermengem, professor of bacteriology and a student of Robert Koch, correctly described "Clostridium botulinum" as the bacterial source of the toxin. Thirty-four attendees at a funeral were poisoned by eating partially salted ham, an extract of which was found to cause botulism-like paralysis in laboratory animals. Van Ermengem isolated and grew the bacterium, and described its toxin, which was later purified by P Tessmer Snipe and Hermann Sommer.
Botulinum toxin
Botulinum toxin (BTX) is a neurotoxic protein produced by the bacterium "Clostridium botulinum" and related species. It prevents the release of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine from axon endings at the neuromuscular junction and thus causes flaccid paralysis. Infection with the bacterium causes the disease botulism. The toxin is also used commercially in medicine, cosmetics and research.
Botulinum is the most acutely lethal toxin known, with an estimated human median lethal dose (LD) of 1.3–2.1 ng/kg intravenously or intramuscularly and 10–13 ng/kg when inhaled.