Botulism

Botulism is a rare and potentially fatal illness caused by botulinum toxin, which is produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. The disease begins with weakness, blurred vision, feeling tired,... Wikipedia

• Specialty:  Infectious disease, gastroenterology
• Symptoms:  Weakness, trouble seeing, feeling tired, trouble speaking
• Usual onset:  12 to 72 hours
• Duration:  Variable
• Causes:  Clostridium botulinum
• Risk factors:  Improperly canned, preserved or fermented foods, injection drug use (e.g. black-tar heroin), honey consumption in infants
• Diagnostic method:  Finding the bacteria or their toxin
• Differential diagnosis:  Myasthenia gravis, Guillain–Barré syndrome, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Lambert Eaton syndrome
• Prevention:  Proper food preparation, no honey for children younger than one
• Treatment:  Antitoxin, antibiotics, mechanical ventilation
• Frequency:  Worldwide: c. 1 000 reported cases per year, United States: 273 cases in 2021
• Deaths:  Global case-fatality rate 5–10 % (≈50–100 deaths annually)
• Data source:  DuckDuckGo