How is botulism spread? What are the symptoms?
• You can get botulism from eating contaminated food or when a wound is contaminated by the bacteria. The disease is not spread from person to person. The amount of exposure to the toxin determines how quickly symptoms appear–from a few hours to several days. • Regardless of how the toxin enters the body, the results are the same. As the disease progresses, symptoms may include double or blurred vision, drooping eyelids, slurred speech, difficulty swallowing, dry mouth, and muscle weakness (starts with shoulders and descends through body). Finally, breathing muscles may be paralyzed causing death unless mechanical breathing assistance is available. • Foodborne botulism occurs when a person eats food contaminated with the toxin-producing bacteria. This usually results from poor home-canning techniques. The first symptoms may include nausea and vomiting. Foodborne botulism can occur in all age groups. The source of the contaminated food must be identified as quickly as possible to preve
