Woman dies of botulism in France after eating sardines in restaurant – International

2023-09-13 13:58:00

A woman died in France of botulism after eating canned sardines in a restaurant last week, and tourists of various nationalities also became poisoned, health authorities reported this Wednesday (13).

Botulism is a serious neurological disease that is generally caused by ingesting poorly preserved food.

The Bordeaux restaurant Tchin Tchin Wine Bar, where the victims had eaten, stored the sardines itself, according to the DGS health authority.

The nationality of the 32-year-old woman who died has not yet been determined, according to a source close to the case.

Benjamin Clouzeau, a doctor at Bordeaux’s Pellegrin hospital, said another 12 people were still receiving emergency treatment on Wednesday. Five breathe with the help of devices.

Among them are citizens of the United States, Ireland and Canada.

A German citizen is being treated in his country, where he returned, and there would be another similar case in Barcelona (northeast of Spain), added the doctor.

Everyone had dinner at this restaurant in Bordeaux between the 4th and 10th of September, when there is usually a large influx of tourists in the city, famous for its wine and gastronomy.

Everyone ate sardines that the restaurant owner himself had pickled, according to the DGS.

Botulism is fatal in between 5% and 10% of cases, due to a toxin generated by the bacterium “Clostridium botulinum” that can appear when preserved foods are not sufficiently sterilized.

Authorities continued to carry out tests at the restaurant and are not ruling out the emergence of more cases of botulism, which has an incubation period that can take up to several days.

This disease can cause muscle paralysis for several weeks. The most immediate danger is related to the damage to the respiratory muscles.