2023-07-20 19:51:43
Foodborne botulism is an unusual and serious disease caused by the Clostridium botulinum bacterium that, in oxygen-poor environments, produces toxins with high mortality and is caused by the consumption of food that has not been properly processed, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
In Spain there has been an outbreak of foodborne botulism, with five confirmed cases to date and another two under study, associated with the consumption of pre-cooked and packaged potato tortillas, distributed by the Palacios Group, which has already withdrawn them from the market as a precaution.
Three of the cases have required treatment in intensive care.
The Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN) has asked the autonomous communities to verify the withdrawal of the affected products.
The director of the Agency for Food Safety, Environmental Health and Consumption of Asturias, José Ignacio Altolaguirre, has called for calm because it is a “very, very, infrequent” disease generally associated with poorly processed homemade preserves and in some cases with sausages, but “never” with packaged tortillas, so this outbreak is something “very unusual”, he specified.
According to the WHO, it is an unusual poisoning generally caused by eating food contaminated with very powerful neurotoxins, botulinum toxins, which are formed in contaminated food.
The spores produced by the bacteria Clostridium botulinum They are heat resistant, widely disseminated in the environment, which germinate, grow and excrete toxins in the absence of oxygen.
Symptoms of foodborne botulism
Botulinum toxins are neurotoxic, that is, they affect the nervous system. Foodborne botulism is characterized by a descending flaccid paralysis that can lead to respiratory failure.
Initial symptoms include severe fatigue, weakness, and dizziness, usually followed by blurred vision, dry mouth, and difficulty swallowing and speaking. There may also be vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal swelling, but not fever or loss of consciousness.
The disease can cause weakness in the neck and arms and later affect the respiratory and lower body muscles.
The symptoms are not caused by the bacteria, but by the toxin it produces. They usually manifest between 12 and 36 hours after ingestion (with a minimum period of four hours and a maximum of eight days).
The incidence of botulism is low, but the mortality rate is high if early diagnosis is not made and appropriate treatment (antitoxin and intensive respiratory care) is urgently provided. The disease can be fatal in 5 to 10% of cases, according to data from the OMS.
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