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Botulism
Botulism is a disease caused by bacteria that can enter your body through contaminated food or through a cut. The bacterial toxin causes severe neurological problems including paralysis.
155 Questions
What are facts about botulism?
Botulism is a food poisoning normally caused by foods that were canned or preserved improperly. Clostridium botulinumprotects itself by forming bacterial spores. Even when the vegetative cells are killed off, if the food is not processed or handled properly, the spores could survive, germinate and start growing again. The toxin is produced under anaerobic conditions, so if a jar of beans was not processed to the proper temperature or pressure for the required amount of time, the anaerobes could grow and form toxins.
The infective dose that can cause illness is only a few nanograms of the potent neurotoxin. You can't see, smell or taste the toxin. The toxin is absorbed into the body where it blocks motor nerve terminals and causes paralysis. Paralysis of the diaphragm and chest 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. Symptoms include difficulty swallowing, speaking, breathing, and may have droopy eyelids and blurred vision.
There are two other ways that someone can contract botulism:
- Infant botulism is where babies have been fed something that contains C. bot. spores. The spores germinate in the intestinal tract and product the toxin because the infant gut is immature and allows the growth of the bacteria . The spores could come from many places, but honey is known to carry the spores. Do not feed honey to infants under 12 months old.
- Wound botulism is also known as "gas gangrene" and occurs when a wound is colonized by the C. botbacteria.
How does botulism enter the body?
Botulism is caused by ingestion of the neurotoxin produced by Clostridium botulinum when it grows under anaerobic conditions. The toxin enters the nerve cells and block transmissions. This is very serious and can cause nerve damage, paralysis and death.
Also adding to this answer there are 3 kinds of Botulism
- Food Borne Botulism
- Infant Botulism
- Wound Botulism
This is a very serious disease and can sometimes lead to dying.
Therefore it can attack through food (Food Borne Botulism) which usually comes from home canned foods and some canned seafood that comes from Alaska. Wound Botulism can come from inhaling cocaine if you get a cut and bacteria gets in it that is also another way. And with Infant Botulism is if spores of bacteria get into a infants intestine they grow and multiply in there. This can occur anywhere from 6 months of a baby's life to 2 years old.
What is the most likely cause of botulism?
Botulism results from the contamination of food by the bacteria Clostridium botulinum, which releases toxic by-products as it grows anaerobically. Damaged or dented cans, or improper canning, can allow botulism to affect the food inside.
Very dangerous mate can bloomin mess ya life up. Im a casse back in ohio in 1919 which left seven dead in my state, It was bloomin terrible, i escaped with paralysis in my legs, haven't walked since. messed me up man.
Who are botulism most common victims?
Developing countries have very high rates of Cholera, also children are more likely to get it, as they have weaker immune systems, hope this helps :P
What is the appearance of botulism?
Dry mouth, vomiting , sore throat, impaired vision, dizziness,
paralysis.
How do you denature botulism toxin?
Most infant botulism patients require supportive care in a hospital setting. The only drug currently available to treat infant botulism is Botulism Immune Globulin Intravenous-Human (BIG-IV or BabyBIG). BabyBIG was developed by the Infant Botulism Treatment and Prevention Program at the California Department of Public Health.
The respiratory failure and paralysis that occur with severe botulism may require a patient to be on a ventilator for weeks, plus intensive medical and nursing care. After several weeks, the paralysis slowly improves. If diagnosed early, foodborne and wound botulism can be treated by inducing passive immunity with a horse-derived antitoxin, which blocks the action of toxin circulating in the blood. This can prevent patients from worsening, but recovery still takes many weeks. Physicians may try to remove contaminated food still in the gut by inducing vomiting or by using enemas. Wounds should be treated, usually surgically, to remove the source of the toxin-producing bacteria. Good supportive care in a hospital is the mainstay of therapy for all forms of botulism.
Furthermore each case of food-borne botulism is a potential public health emergency in that it is necessary to identify the source of the outbreak and ensure that all persons who have been exposed to the toxin have been identified, and that no contaminated food remains.
There are two primary Botulinum Antitoxins available for treatment of wound and foodborne botulism. Trivalent (A,B,E) Botulinum Antitoxin is derived from equine sources utilizing whole antibodies (Fab & Fc portions). This antitoxin is available from the local health department via the CDC. The second antitoxin is heptavalent (A,B,C,D,E,F,G) Botulinum Antitoxin which is derived from "despeciated" equine IgG antibodies which have had the Fc portion cleaved off leaving the F(ab')2 portions. This is a less immunogenic antitoxin that is effective against all known strains of botulism where not contraindicated. This is available from the US Army. On 1 June 2006 the US Department of Health and Human Services awarded a $363 million contract with Cangene Corporation for 200,000 doses of Heptavalent Botulinum Antitoxin over five years for delivery into the Strategic National Stockpile beginning in 2007.
Source : Wikipedia
How can botulism be transmitted?
Cases of foodborne botulism often come from home-canned foods with low acid content, such as asparagus, green beans, beets, and corn. Clostridium botulinum bacteria is anaerobic, which means it can survive and grow with little or no oxygen. Therefore, it can survive very well in sealed containers. Outbreaks of the botulism are often from more unusual sources such as chili peppers, tomatoes, and improperly handled baked potatoes wrapped in aluminum foil.
You have applied honey on a pimple you've previously poked. Is there any risk of botulism?
if you mean because of the honey, no,
honey is actually natures best kept health secret, its a wonderful antiseptic and should actually help heal the pimple
so i wouldn't worry about that
additional, to add to my answer above, i would like to ask wiki answers why the insult below is still here?
calling someone "moronic" is hardly a valuable answer
snd as to you sir, having to speak that way only shows you to be the one with the problem
i may or not be wrong in my information, but at least im not a rude or mean person to people wh are just trying to help
as far as im aware, honey is versatile, and i think its safer to take the word of someone who actually has info and doesnt have to insult people to make themselves feel or look better somehow
i will research, or ask my boyf later, and i may correct my (supposedly) wrong info, but i still dont have to act like a horrible person to do it
im sure wiki answers values your contribution, i do, it reminds me why i dont bother coming here
thanks for that
additional
and so here is the information i searched all of 3 seconds for ;
"Warning! Honey is not for babies!Although honey is a natural, healthy food that normally cannot support bacterial life, it's important to note that it can carry C. botulinum spores which may be harmful to the undeveloped immune systems of infants." -about.com "infant botulismIn the United States, this is the most common form of botulism. It begins after C. botulinum bacteria grow in a baby's digestive system. It is often associated with ingestion of honey."-wikipediaso yes, if you are a baby, dont use it
im sure that the asker isnt tho, tho who knows, maybe im wrong, again
Nature's best kept health secret???? Another moronic answer and this one actually laces people at risk.
Infection from honey is certianly possible as it often carries spore forming bacteria including- C. botulinum. However - this bacterium is rarely infective - it produces a toxin that is fatal.
see: Contamination routes of Clostridium botulinum in the honey production environment.Environ Microbiol. 2006 Jun;8(6):1085-94.
Yes it can. For example, in Canada last year the health ministry recalled a bunch of pepperoni products due to a suspicion of them having botulism.
Is botulism caused by a bacteria protozoan parasite virus or fungus?
Botulism is caused by a bacteria called Clostridium botulinum. This bacteria produces a toxin that causes nerve damage. The way to get this bacteria is through food, although it causes little GI damage.
What is the most effective way to fight back against botulism?
I have been studying this and the best way to stop this is getting this at the source and try to prevent this first. The best way to prevent this is to eat good safe foods that haven't been left open or expired. If you are able to stop it from happening you wont have to worrying about trying to stop it. If you do have to stop it is is best to take medication prescribed by our doctor since I don't know every ones allergies i cannot say what medicine you need to take.
What pH is necessary to kill botulism?
When canning, the pH does not kill botulism. Rather, a pH less than 4.6 is needed to prevent botulism from growing.
If you are canning foods with a pH at or over 4.6, a pressure canner is needed to completely kill botulism.
How likely are you to get botulism from pizza?
Not very, botulism is primarily caused by improperly canned foods. Most pizza parlors use fresh ingredients on their pizza. Tomatoes are too acidic, typically, for the botilinum bacteria to grow in canned tomatoes, usually the only canned ingredient at some pizza parlors that don't make their own sauce. You are more likely to suffer listeria from fresh mozzarella (only slightly, pasteurized milk is usually safe), or salmonella from improperly cleaned kitchens that process raw meats.
How does botulism effect skeletal mussle?
of course i am greg bodner and i love god i study and teach at the university of Guam with george Abe blas and masatomo neal matsunori neal we love god but the thing about botulism is that it is from bad foods the thing you have to do is drink some goat milk and soy milk and believe in g.e. Japanese and fand and the boys and girls love you greg bodner brother in b.p.o.e. and free and accepted masaonry 333 degree you made everyone on Guam happy say hi to thiel college and missy bodner love you Pennsylvania quebec ou la la quebec new caledonie we miss you guys the sorianos and ayala all happly on New York and Guam and central luzon
