A woman in her 50s in southern Taiwan has been hospitalized in the nation’s first confirmed case of Clostridium botulinum poisoning in four years, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday.
CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said that on July 13, the woman began experiencing abdominal pain, diarrhea, a drooping eyelid, difficulty swallowing and speaking, and general weakness.
The woman’s doctor reported the incident and forwarded samples for lab analysis, with the results on Friday last week showing that she had botulism, Lin said.
Photo: Lin Hui-chin, Taipei Times
An investigation by the local health department showed that she lives alone and has a habit of consuming expired food, the CDC said.
The woman was intubated in an intensive care unit and was not available for questioning, CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said.
The toxins generated by C botulinum can cause severe neurotoxicity and most botulism cases are caused by contaminated food, Lin said, adding that symptoms usually begin within 12 to 72 hours after eating the tainted food.
The swiftest onset of symptoms is about two hours, while the slowest is eight days, he said.
The bacterium is most often encountered when food is not well preserved or processed, such as in homemade pickled or canned goods.
The neurotoxin generated by the bacteria is destroyed by high temperatures and can be eliminated if food is boiled for 10 minutes at 100°C, he said.
People should fully heat homemade pickled goods before eating, keep vacuum-sealed products refrigerated or stored as suggested by labeling, and not eat canned food with bulging lids or tops, or those that exude a putrid smell when opened, he said.
Moreover, honey should not be given to infants, as C botulinum spores can sometimes be found in it, Lin said.
If left untreated, fatality rates for botulism are between 30 and 60 percent, but are as low as 10 percent with proper treatment within 24 hours, Lo said.
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