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Type B Botulism Outbreak Caused by a Commercial Food ProductWest Virginia and Pennsylvania, 1973
William H. Barker, Jr, MD;
Jack B. Weissman, MD;
Vilus R. Dowell, Jr, PhD;
Ludwig Gutmann, MD;
Donald A. Kautter
JAMA. 1977;237(5):456-459.
Abstract
In the week of May 7,1973, seven persons contracted botulism after eating together. The most common symptoms were vomiting, constipation, dry mouth, dysphagia, and dysphonia. All were treated with trivalent botulinal antitoxin, and none died. Serum specimens obtained from all seven patients were negative for botulinal toxin, but stool specimens from three patients were positive for type B toxin. Electromyographic studies performed on five patients documented the neurophysiologic abnormalities of botulism. Commercially canned peppers in oil were implicated epidemiologically, and type B toxin was identified in leftover peppers. The processor voluntarily recalled the pepper product, and no further cases were reported.
(JAMA 237:456-459, 1977)
Author Affiliations
From the Enteric Diseases Branch, Bacterial Diseases Division, Bureau of Epidemiology (Drs Barker and Weissman) and the Enterobacteriology Section, Bureau of Laboratories (Dr Dowell), Center for Disease Control, Public Health Service, US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Atlanta, Georgia; Department of Neurology, West Virginia University Medical Center, Morgantown, West Virginia (Dr Gutmann); and the Division of Microbiology, Bureau of Foods, Food and Drug Administration, Washington, DC (Mr Kautter).
Footnotes
Reprint requests to Enteric Disease Branch, Bureau of Epidemiology, Center for Disease Control, Atlanta, GA 30333 (Dr Barker).
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