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In Botulism
What is botulism?
Botulism is a food poisoning normally caused by foods that werecanned or preserved improperly. Clostridium botulinum protects itself by forming bacterial spores. Even when th…evegetative cells are killed off, if the food is not processed orhandled properly, the spores could survive, germinate and startgrowing again. The toxin is produced under anaerobic conditions, soif a jar of beans was not processed to the proper temperature orpressure for the required amount of time, the anaerobes could growand form toxins. The infective dose that can cause illness is only a few nanogramsof the potent neurotoxin. You can't see, smell or taste the toxin.The toxin is absorbed into the body where it blocks motor nerveterminals and causes paralysis. Paralysis of the diaphragm andchest muscle can cause death by asphyxia. Victims normally get sick within 18 to 36 hours after eating it,but cases of onset have varied from 4 hours to 8 days. Symptomsinclude difficulty swallowing, speaking, breathing, and may havedroopy eyelids and blurred vision. There are two other ways that someone can contract botulism: .
Infant botulism is where babies have been fed somethingthat contains C. bot . spores. The spores germinate in theintestinal tract and product the toxin because the infant gut isimmature and allows the growth of the bacteria . The spores couldcome from many places, but honey is known to carry the spores. Donot feed honey to infants under 12 months old. .
Wound botulism is also known as "gas gangrene" andoccurs when a wound is colonized by the C. bot bacteria. (MORE)
