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PubMed1984

Botulism in the elderly.

Two cases of type A botulism in elderly patients are presented, followed by an overview of the disease. Typical features demonstrated by these patients included home food preservation, multiple cases, and early GI tract symptoms followed by diplopia, ptosis, generalized weakness, and respiratory impairment while sensation and deep tendon reflexes remained intact. Fatal outcomes are more likely in the elderly. The CDC should be contacted early in cases of suspected botulism.

Aged↗
PubMed1982

Dieldrin poisoning and botulism in Australian pelicans (Pelecanus conspicillatus).

Autopsies and laboratory examinations of material from 24 Australian pelicans found sick or dead in southern coastal Queensland in 1977 to 1979 revealed dieldrin poisoning in 8 from the Brisbane region and botulism in 8 from Brisbane, Bundaberg and Gladstone. In those diagnosed as dieldrin poisoning, brain and liver samples contained 12.1 to 27.4 and 34.0 to 48.1 mg/kg dieldrin respectively. All of these birds were emaciated, 2 had convulsed and 1 had muscle tremors. Low and probably insignificant residues of DDE were detected in many birds. Type C botulism was confirmed in 4 of the 6 birds tested with specific antiserums. A large number of parasites including mites, lice, nematodes, cestodes, trematodes, coccidia and Sarcocystis sp were found but were thought to have had only a limited effect on the health of these birds.

Animal Population Groups↗
PubMed1984

Thirteen cases of botulism in horses fed big bale silage.

An outbreak of pharyngeal and limb paresis involving four horses and nine ponies in the south east of England is described. Nine of the animals died or were destroyed on humane grounds. The clinical features suggested a diagnosis of botulism and mouse innoculation tests confirmed the presence of type B toxin in the serum of one case. All animals were fed big bale silage. It is describe how, in plastic wrapped silage manufacture, conditions of fermentation may be inadequate to prevent the growth of Clostridium botulism. Examination of a sample of silage fed to the affected horses suggested that this was probably the source of the toxin.

Animal Feed↗
PubMed1989

[Infant botulism was confirmed in Ehime Prefecture].

The third case of infant botulism in Japan is reported. A four-month-old baby boy suddenly had weakness of suckling force, constipation and generalized hypotonicity. He was the product of normal gestation, labor and delivery. Growth and development were normal until he was nineteen weeks old. He received fruit-juice and honey daily. By bacteriological examination, Clostridium botulism type A was isolated from his feces and the honey which he had received. Type A toxin was detected from his feces but not from his serum.

Botulism↗
PubMed1985

Kinetics of growth and toxigenicity of Clostridium botulinum in experimental wound botulism.

An animal model of wound botulism was developed in mice using an inoculum of Clostridium botulinum type A spores. The number of C. botulinum in infected wounds was quantitated by culturing on egg yolk agar, and the level of C. botulinum toxin in infected wound tissue was measured by a bioassay in mice and by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. All infected mice receiving no further treatment developed neuroparalytic symptoms consistent with botulism after an incubation period of ca. 48 h, and all of these animals died. Serotherapy with C. botulinum type A antitoxin initiated 24 h postchallenge reduced the mortality rate to 5%. Treatment with metronidazole 2 to 24 h postchallenge resulted in recovery rates of 40 to 91%.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Characterization of Clostridium botulinum type B neurotoxin associated with infant botulism in japan.

The neurotoxin of strain 111 (111/NT) associated with type B infant botulism showed antigenic and biological properties different from that (Okra/NT) produced by a food-borne botulism-related strain, Okra. The specific toxicity of 111/NT was found to be about 10 times lower than that of Okra/NT. The monoclonal antibodies recognizing the light chain cross-reacted with both neurotoxins, whereas most of the antibodies recognizing the carboxyl-terminal half of the heavy chain of Okra/NT did not react to 111/NT. Binding experiments with rat brain synaptosomes revealed that 125I-labeled 111/NT bound to a single binding site with a dissociation constant (Kd) of 2.5 nM; the value was rather lower than that (0.42 nM) of 125I-Okra/NT for the high-affinity binding site. In the lipid vesicles reconstituted with ganglioside GT1b, 125I-Okra/NT interacted with the amino-terminal domain of synaptotagmin 1 (Stg1N) or synaptotagmin 2 (Stg2N), fused with the maltose-binding protein, in the same manner as the respective full-length synaptotagmins, and the Kd values accorded with those of the low- and high-affinity binding sites in synaptosomes. However, 125I-111/NT only exhibited a low capacity for binding to the lipid vesicles containing Stg2N, but not Stg1N, in the presence of ganglioside GT1b. Moreover, synaptobrevin-2, an intracellular target protein, was digested to the same extent by the light chains of both neurotoxins in a concentration-dependent manner. These findings indicate that the 111/NT molecule possesses the receptor-recognition site structurally different from Okra/NT, probably causing a decreased specific toxicity.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Isolation of an organism resembling Clostridium barati which produces type F botulinal toxin from an infant with botulism.

All reported cases of infant botulism except one have been caused by proteolytic strains (group I) of Clostridium botulinum, toxin types A or B. We describe the cultural and biochemical characteristics of the causative organism of this singular case of infant botulism, caused by type F botulinal toxin. Although this organism produces type F botulinal toxin, it is quite different from proteolytic (group I) C. botulinum, being more closely related to Clostridium barati.

Botulinum Toxins↗
PubMed1986

Characterization of an organism that produces type E botulinal toxin but which resembles Clostridium butyricum from the feces of an infant with type E botulism.

The apparent causative organism from the only reported case of type E infant botulism was isolated and characterized. Except for its ability to produce type E botulinal toxin, this organism (strain 5262) would be unquestionably identified as Clostridium butyricum. This is the second time an organism resembling a defined Clostridium species other than a member of the C. botulinum group has been implicated in infant botulism.

Botulinum Toxins↗
PubMed1986

Two fatal cases of type E adult food-borne botulism with early symptoms and terminal neurologic signs.

Type E botulism, one of the least common forms of botulinal intoxication on the East Coast of the United States, is described for two elderly patients with chronic underlying disease. Both patients consumed tainted kapchunka, a salted, ungutted whitefish. Gastrointestinal symptoms and signs were prominent, but neurologic complaints, although noted soon after the consumption of the fish in one patient, did not progress until late in the course of the patient's illness. One patient exhibited both urinary retention, which was reported mainly in one outbreak of type E botulism (M.G. Koenig, A. Spickard, M.A. Cardella, and D.E. Rogers, Medicine [Baltimore] 43:517-545, 1964), and muscular fasciculations, which have been rarely reported.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Genetic confirmation of identities of neurotoxigenic Clostridium baratii and Clostridium butyricum implicated as agents of infant botulism.

Two unusual neurotoxigenic clostridia isolated from fecal specimens from patients with type F and type E infant botulism were phenotypically identical to the existing species Clostridium baratii and C. butyricum, respectively. DNA hybridization experiments confirmed that one strain was C. baratii and that the other was C. butyricum. These species therefore do contain neurotoxigenic strains and are possible causes of infant botulism.

Botulism↗
PubMed1994

Application of PCR to a clinical and environmental investigation of a case of equine botulism.

PCR for the detection of botulinum neurotoxin gene types A to E was used in the investigation of a case of equine botulism. Samples from a foal diagnosed with toxicoinfectious botulism in 1985 were reanalyzed by PCR and the mouse bioassay in conjunction with an environmental survey. Neurotoxin B was detected by mouse bioassay in culture enrichments of serum, spleen, feces, and intestinal contents. PCR results compared well with mouse bioassay results, detecting type B neurotoxin genes in these samples and also in a liver sample. Other neurotoxin types were not detected by either test. Clostridium botulinum type B was shown to be prevalent in soils collected from the area in which the foal was raised. Four methods were used to test for the presence of botulinum neurotoxin-producing organisms in 66 soil samples taken within a 5-km radius: PCR and agarose gel electrophoresis (types A to E), PCR and an enzyme-linked assay (type B), hybridization of crude alkaline cell lysates with a type B-specific probe, and the mouse bioassay (all types). Fewer soil samples were positive for C. botulinum type B by the mouse bioassay (15%) than by any of the DNA-based detection systems. Hybridization of a type B-specific probe to DNA dot blots (26% of the samples were positive) and PCR-enzyme-linked assay (77% of the samples were positive) were used for the rapid analysis of large numbers of samples, with sensitivity limits of 3 x 10(6) and 3,000 cells, respectively. Conventional detection of PCR products by gel electrophoresis was the most sensitive method (300-cell limit), and in the present environmental survey, neurotoxin B genes only were detected in 94% of the samples.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Characterization of a neurotoxigenic Clostridium butyricum strain isolated from the food implicated in an outbreak of food-borne type E botulism.

Neurotoxigenic Clostridium butyricum was isolated from the food implicated in an outbreak of clinically diagnosed type E botulism in China. PCR assay showed that the isolate (LCL 155) contained the type E botulinum toxin gene. This appears to be the first report of neurotoxigenic C. butyricum causing food-borne botulism.

Bacteriological Techniques↗
PubMed2004

Dual toxin-producing strain of Clostridium botulinum type Bf isolated from a California patient with infant botulism.

A retrospective study of Clostridium botulinum strains isolated from patients from California with infant botulism identified the fourth known C. botulinum strain that produces both type B and type F botulinum toxins. This unique strain represented 0.12% of the California infant botulism case isolates from 1976 to 2003. The relative concentrations of type B and F toxins produced were temperature dependent.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Improvement in laboratory diagnosis of wound botulism and tetanus among injecting illicit-drug users by use of real-time PCR assays for neurotoxin gene fragments.

An upsurge in wound infections due to Clostridium botulinum and Clostridium tetani among users of illegal injected drugs (IDUs) occurred in the United Kingdom during 2003 and 2004. A real-time PCR assay was developed to detect a fragment of the neurotoxin gene of C. tetani (TeNT) and was used in conjunction with previously described assays for C. botulinum neurotoxin types A, B, and E (BoNTA, -B, and -E). The assays were sensitive, specific, rapid to perform, and applicable to investigating infections among IDUs using DNA extracted directly from wound tissue, as well as bacteria growing among mixed microflora in enrichment cultures and in pure culture on solid media. A combination of bioassay and PCR test results confirmed the clinical diagnosis in 10 of 25 cases of suspected botulism and two of five suspected cases of tetanus among IDUs. The PCR assays were in almost complete agreement with the conventional bioassays when considering results from different samples collected from the same patient. The replacement of bioassays by real-time PCR for the isolation and identification of both C. botulinum and C. tetani demonstrates a sensitivity and specificity similar to those of conventional approaches. However, the real-time PCR assays substantially improves the diagnostic process in terms of the speed of results and by the replacement of experimental animals. Recommendations are given for an improved strategy for the laboratory investigation of suspected wound botulism and tetanus among IDUs.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Comparison of DNA fingerprinting methods for use in investigation of type E botulism outbreaks in the Canadian Arctic.

Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis, and automated ribotyping were compared for epidemiological typing of Clostridium botulinum type E using clinical and food isolates associated with four botulism outbreaks occurring in the Canadian Arctic. All type E strains previously untypeable by PFGE, even with the use of a formaldehyde fixation step, could be typed by the addition of 50 microM thiourea to the electrophoresis running buffer. Digestion with SmaI or XhoI followed by PFGE was used to link food and clinical isolates from four different type E botulism outbreaks and differentiate them from among 39 group II strains. Strain differentiation was unsuccessful with the automated ribotyping system, producing a single characteristic EcoRI fingerprint common to all group II strains. RAPD analysis of C. botulinum group II strains was not consistently reproducible with primer OPJ-6 or OPJ-13, apparently discriminating between epidemiologically related strains. A modified PFGE protocol was judged to be the most useful method for typing epidemiologically related C. botulinum type E strains, based on its ability to type all strains reproducibly and with an adequate level of discrimination.

Arctic Regions↗
PubMed1977

Avian botulism and the high prevalence of Clostridium botulinum in the Norflok Broads.

An account is given of a severe outbreak of type C botulism in waterfowl that occurred on the Norfolk Broads during the exceptionally warm summer of 1975. Forty-five mud samples were collected from 22 well distributed aquatic sites representing a considerable proportion of the total number of Broads. All samples except one (ie, 97-8 per cent) were shown to contain Clostridium botulinum and 58 per cent contained more than one type of the organism. Types B, C and E were demonstrated in 62-2 per cent, 51-1 per cent and 60 per cent of samples respectively. Recent surveys, made by identical methods, of aquatic environments in the London area and the Camargue (France) showed prevalences of Cl botulinum of 72-5 per cent and 4-5 per cent respectively. It seems likely that the Norfolk Broads will continue to present a risk to waterfowl from botulism in future hot summers.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

A major outbreak of botulism in cattle being fed ensiled poultry litter.

Eighty of a group of 150 housed beef cattle showed classical signs of botulism after eating a batch of ensiled poultry litter. Sixty-eight of the animals died and Clostridium botulinum type C toxin was detected in 18 of 22 sera examined. C botulinum organisms were isolated from the ensiled litter and type C toxin was demonstrated in samples of decomposed poultry carcases present in the litter. This outbreak of bovine botulism was the most serious to have been recorded in Europe and was the first associated with feeding ensiled poultry litter.

Animal Feed↗
PubMed1989

Type C botulism in cattle being fed ensiled poultry litter.

A botulinum toxin from ensiled poultry litter which caused a major outbreak of bovine botulism was characterised as type C1. The litter produced transient ataxia when fed to two experimental calves and the clinical signs were accompanied by a transient appearance of serum toxin. Type C1 toxin was demonstrated in muscle tissues which had been taken during the outbreak from an affected animal with high circulating serum toxin, and held frozen for seven months. Clostridium botulinum type C organisms were demonstrated in faeces from another affected animal and also in kidney tissue from a third animal. These observations have implications for the diagnosis and management of future outbreaks of botulism and for the potential health risk from the meat of affected animals.

Animal Feed↗