Home-canned potatoes to blame for botulism outbreak

home-canned-potatoes-to-blame-for-botulism-outbreak

Regional and state health authorities say potato salad made with home-canned potatoes is to blame for the more than 20 cases of botulism in Lancaster, Ohio, recently. All those who are sick dininged at a potluck dinner at Cross Pointe Free Will Baptist Church on April 19. Health officials checked remaining food samples obtained from the garbage and spoke with ill clients to determine what common food all of them consumed. As of Tuesday, there were 21 confirmed cases of botulism and 10 more presumed cases, according to Ohio Department of Health spokesperson Shannon Libby. That consists of the death of a 54-year-old woman. The ill patients were treated at geographic area medical facilities with an antitoxin from the Strategic National Stockpile offered by the U.S. Centers for Condition Control and Prevention. Foodborne outbreaks of botulism contaminating two or more people take place practically every year, according to the CDC, and they are usually caused by home-canned foods. Local health authorities stressed the importance of using a pressure canner or cooker when canning foods at home because the pressure eliminates the germ that causes botulism. Botulism is not infectious and only influences those who eat the infected food. Its symptoms generally begin anywhere from 18 to 36 hours of consuming tainted food. It can cause paralysis, double vision, problem swallowing and breathing failure. According to the CDC, there are approximately 145 cases of botulism a year and 15 % of them are foodborne. Dr. Mark Aebi, Health Commissioner and Medical Director at the Fairfield County Department of Health stated in a statement: “This is a tough time for our neighborhood, and our ideas and prayers are with the affected individuals and their households.”.