Botulism

Symptoms:

• difficulty swallowing and speaking, progressive weakness
• nausea, vomiting
• abdominal cramps
• dry mouth
• double vision
• breathing difficulty that may lead to respiratory failure
• breathing, absent temporarily
• in infants:
  • constipation
  • weakness, loss of muscle tone
  • weak cry
  • poor feeding and weak sucking
  • respiratory distress
  • appears alert but weak

Note: Symptoms usually appear between 8 to 36 hours after consuming contaminated food.

Additional symptoms that may be associated with this disease:

• speech impairment
• muscle function/feeling loss
• eyelid drooping
• absent or decreased gag reflex
• absent or decreased deep tendon reflexes

Signs and tests:

• blood test to identify toxin
• laboratory analysis of suspected food
• stool culture