Botulism sends 3 C. Oregonians to hospital

The Oregon State Public Health Lab has confirmed that three Central Oregon residents who were hospitalized contracted botulism at a private barbecue, Deschutes County health officials said Monday.

Deschutes County Health Services has conducted an investigation and implicated home-canned food as the source of the Botulism. Final testing results are pending.

No other details were released, though officials told NewsChannel 21 two of the three people affected are back at home recovering.

“This was an isolated incident and Deschutes County Health Services has notified all involved individuals,” a news release stated. “Botulism in NOT spread person to person, so there is no risk to the general public as a result of these cases.”

(Tune into NewsChannel 21 Monday night and Tuesday for more on the botulism outbreak, as well as reminders of safe home-canning procedures.)

County officials called the incident a good reminder of the importance of following strict hygienic procedures to reduce contamination of foods while canning, as well as obtaining the necessary pressure when canning to effectively destroy bacteria and prevent botulism.

Detailed instructions on safe home canning can be obtained from Oregon State extension services at the following website: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/fch/food-preservation. Oregon residents can also call the Food Preservation and Food Safety Hotline at (800) 354-7319 to talk to trained OSU Extension staff.

There are three primary types of botulism:

1. Foodborne botulism is caused by eating foods that contain the botulism toxin and is often associated with home-canned foods that have been improperly processed. Ingesting botulism toxin can lead to illness within a few hours- to days. Foodborne botulism is often caused from home-canned foods with low acid content such as asparagus, green beans, beets and corn.

2. Wound botulism is caused by toxin produced from a wound infected with the bacterium. Wound botulism can be prevented by promptly seeking medical care for infected wounds and by not using contaminated injectable drugs.

3. Infant botulism is caused by consuming the spores of the botulinum bacteria, which then grow in the intestines and release toxin. Honey can contain spores of the botulinum bacteria and has been a source of infection for infants. Children less than 12 months old should not be fed honey. Generally, honey is safe for people one year of age and older.

The classic symptoms of botulism include double or blurred vision, drooping eyelids, slurred speech, difficulty swallowing, dry mouth, and muscle weakness.

These are all symptoms of the muscle paralysis caused by the bacterial toxin. If untreated, these symptoms may progress to cause paralysis of the arms, legs, trunk and breathing muscles.

In foodborne botulism, symptoms generally begin 12 to 36 hours after eating a contaminated food, but they can occur as early as six hours or as late as 10 days later.

In the United States, an average of 145 cases of botulism are reported each year. Of these, approximately 15 percent are foodborne, 65 percent are infant botulism, and the rest are wound botulism.

Nationally, outbreaks of foodborne botulism involving two or more people occur most years and are usually caused by eating contaminated home-canned foods