Case Study Botulism

An investigation was necessary to find the cause of the outbreak, and how to stop it from continuing to spread. The campus clinic was interested in testing the following nine patients: Sue, Jill, Anthony, Wanda, Maggie, Maria, Arnie, Marco, and Alvin. All of the students have similar symptoms and agreed to being tested except for Alvin.

Botulism is a rare but very serious paralytic illness that is caused by botulinum toxin(potentially deadly neurotoxin) which is produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. The botulinum toxin can enter the body in 3 main ways: by the ingestion of the toxin from eating foods that contain the botulism toxin (food borne botulism), by the contamination of a wound by the bacterium in which the toxin is produced (wound botulism) and Infant botulism which is caused by consuming the spores of the botulinum bacteria, which then grow in the intestines and release the toxin. The powerful exotoxin (botulinum toxin) leads to secretory diarrhea. All forms of botulism can be fatal and are therefore considered to be

Life Cycle C. botulinum is first either ingested by contaminated food by contaminated soils or marine sediments throughout the world. It enters the body from open wounds or ingested. Then C. botulinum within 18 to 36 hours after exposure the person will start to feel the effects of the toxins released from the spores. Those toxins are carried to nerve endings. Then flaccid paralysis of motor and autonomic nerves. The bacteria itself is harmless it is the toxin produced with the spores that effect the body adversely.

Clostridium botulinum is a type of bacterium that is one of the main reasons for causing the deadly illness botulism. To

1) Dutzik, T., Ridlington, E. (2012, September 20). The Costs of Fracking. Retrieved January 25, 2017, from http://www.environmentamerica.org/reports/ame/costs-fracking

Foodborne illness, or food poisoning, happens everyday in the U.S. and it is estimated that 48 million people are affected by it every year. Of these 48 million, 128,000 end up in the hospital and 3000 of them die from foodborne pathogens (Tucker, 2014). Foodborne illnesses can be caused by biological, chemical, or physical contaminants. The biological contaminants consist of bacteria, viruses, parasites, and fungi. Chemical contaminants are pesticides, cleaning supplies, and toxic chemicals. Physical contaminations are dirt, glass, wood, splinters, stones, hair, jewelry, and metal shavings (Tucker, 2014). Salmonella, a bacterium, has been the most common reported cause of food poisoning. Salmonella is most commonly exposed to humans through animal feces and it is usually from animals that give us beef, poultry, and dairy products. People who do not wash their hands after being around animals can also transmit salmonella into our food. The symptoms of Salmonella are abdominal cramps, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and fever (Tucker, 2014). The symptoms will usually resolve on their own in healthy people but may become life threatening in those with compromised immune systems. In order to prevent Salmonellosis, raw eggs should be avoided, as well as undercooked meat, shellfish, and unpasteurized milk and juice (Tucker, 2014). It is also important to always practice hand hygiene before handling any uncooked food products. Escherichia Coli, otherwise known as E. coli, is

2. The exterminator should send the bill to Pam and the manager. Pam should be responsible for $1,100 and the manager for $250. The exterminator and Pam had a conversation about treating the whole condominium. I believe its the manager's responsibility to treat the whole unit and not the owners because they are only under the mangers building the whole building belongs to him but also the owners responsibility to report issues soon.The city of Chicago requires owners to report any issues regarding bed bugs. The city also requires the manger to have a plan that all owners agreed to in terms of bed bugs. The owners decision was they will not pay extraordinary cases. Therefore Pam should pay for not following up with the agreement.

The first case of foodborne botulism was in Ellezellesin, Belgium in December 14, 1895. Thirty-four musicians had a meal at a local inn and all consumed a ham that had been infected by Clostridium Botulinum. Following the meal, all the musicians experienced visual disturbances, generalized weakness, shortness of breath, and difficulty speaking (Maki). Three of the musicians died over seven days and the organs of the musicians who died were given to Emile-Pierre-Marie Van Ermengem, a professor of microbiology and a physician at Ghent (Maki). He conducted a clinical, toxicological, and bacteriologic investigation on the bacteria (Maki). He found that the pig had been slaughtered four months before being served to the musicians and was cut into two separate hams. The ham served at the inn, the one the musicians got sick from, had no signs of microscopic decay but bacteria was found(Maki). The second ham, which the musicians didn’t eat, did not

A) Emerging Infectious Diseases reported an example of a real life outbreak of community-acquired foodborne illness caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in January 2002, from the Tennessee Department of Health, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. A family purchased a dinner of shredded barbeque pork and coleslaw from a convenience and delicatessen market. The pork was reheated in the home microwave, and three adults ate the food after it was bought. Three to four hours after eating the meal, the three adults who had not eaten another common meal together in the preceding week had nausea, vomiting, and stomach cramps. The two children who did not eat the food did not become sick. Two of the three adults were hospitalized for evaluation, and then they were treated and released.

However, with the work of modern medicine, antibiotics such as streptomycin, gentamicin and doxycycline have been developed to treat the plague. However, if treatment is not received within 24 hours of contracting symptoms, death can result. (NLM, 2013) With the development of antibiotics to treat the plague, treatment reduces your chances of mortality to 15%, but without treatment the prognosis for a person infected with the bubonic plague has a 50% to 90% death rate. Furthermore, if left untreated, the bubonic plague can either multiply in the bloodstream, causing septicaemic plague, or progress to the lungs, causing pneumonic plague, both of which have a higher mortality rate, even with antibiotic treatment. However, several preventive measures can be taken to limit your risk of contracting the disease, active immunization with a vaccine of killed bacteria offers protection against the bubonic plague. This particular vaccine is administered in three doses, with the first two 1 – 3 months apart, and dose three administered 5 – 6 months after the second vaccine. However, booster shots are required every 6 months in high risk areas, such as western USA. (UCLA,

Clostridium botulinum is a bacterium that produces dangerous toxins under low-oxygen conditions. Clostridium botulinum will not grow in acidic conditions, and therefore the toxin will not be formed in acidic foods. Combinations of low storage temperature and salt contents and/or pH are also used to prevent the growth of the bacteria or the formation of the toxin. Even though the spores of clostridium botulinum are not easily damaged by heat, the toxin made by bacteria growing out of the spores under anaerobic conditions is destroyed by boiling. Therefore, ready-to-eat foods in low oxygen-packaging are more frequently involved in botulism. Prevention of foodborne botulism is based on good practice in food preparation particularly preservation and hygiene. Commercial heat pasteurization may not be sufficient to kill all spores and therefore the safety of these products must be based on preventing bacterial growth and toxin making. Salt content combined with refrigeration temperatures will prevent the growth of the bacteria and formation of toxin.

Botulism, Clostridium Botulinum, is a rod shaped anaerobic organism. This organism has peritrichous flagella, which means that it has flagella covering the entire surface. This is usually a rare but could turn into the worst case scenario like paralytic illness which is caused by a nerve toxin. The toxins are endospores that can be ingested by consuming contaminated food or water. Individuals can also breath in the toxin will have similar symptoms to those who ingest it.

Clostridium botulinum is part of the family Clostridiaceae and more specifically, the genus Clostridium. They are rod-shaped, anaerobic bacterium. Because it’s in the Clostridium genus, it is a gram-positive bacterium. This means in addition to a plasma membrane, there is a thick layer of peptidoglycan. Also, the transportation is a direct secretion across the membrane instead of needing additional machinery to cross it like gram-negative does. This bacterium is a spore forming bacteria. These spores can contaminate foods such as fruits, vegetables, and honey. These spores are resistant to high temperature, above 100°C, chemical disinfectants and UV or gamma irradiation. This makes it difficult to eradicate the spores once formed. The bacterium itself can also be present

The illness of topic that is rare but potentially fatal that is caused by a toxin is Botulism. In the United States, health care providers report an average of 110 cases per year. The botulinum toxin is a neurotoxin protein. The causative organism that makes up this toxin is Clostridium botulism and sometimes Clostridium butyricum or Clostridium baratii. They are the gram-positive, rod-shaped, spore-forming, obligate anaerobic bacteria. The bacteria that make this toxin are naturally found in many places and it is rare for them to make people sick. This bacterium makes spores that act like a protective coating. The spores help these bacteria survive in the environment, even in very extreme conditions. The spores even when eaten usually do not make people sick but under certain conditions they can grow and become

All of the above-mentioned forms of botulism can be fatal and should be considered a medical emergency. Foodborne botulism is a public health emergency because many people can be contaminated.