Is botulism endemic

Answer 1

Endemic is a disease of a particular people or a particular region.

Botulism is however found all over the world and so cannot perse be called an endemic disease but can be an endemic hazard amonst a particular people due to their methods of storing food.

So for example a foodborne botulism resulting from consumption of uncooked aquatic game food has been an endemic hazard among Alaska Native populations for centuries. Traditional Alaskan foods aren't fermented, strictly speaking; they're decayed in an airless environment. That makes a friendly breeding ground for Clostridium botulinum, the organism that produces botulism toxin.

Since 1947, it is recorded that there have been 317 cases (in 159 small outbreaks) of foodborne botulism in Alaska with 8.2 percent dying from the paralysis of botulism poisoning. The rate of botulism in Alaska is 836 times in the general population of the USA.

Since the 1970s, the incidence of foodborne botulism has been increasing amongst Alaskans, which it is supposed is due to the use of modern materials such as glass, plastic or metal instead of the traditional skin pouches.