Botulism
An uncommon, but potentially very serious illness, a type of food poisoning, that produces paralysis of muscles via a nerve toxin called botulinum toxin (“botox”) that is manufactured by bacteria named Clostridium botulinum.
There are various types of botulism, including:
Food-borne botulism — from eating food that contains the botulinum toxin.
Wound botulism — caused by the toxin produced in a wound infected with the bacteria Clostridium botulinum.
Infant intestinal botulism — when an infant consumes the spores of the bacteria, the bacteria grow in the baby’s intestines and release toxin.
Adult intestinal botulism — due to infection with Clostridium botulinum in adults, typically following abdominal surgical procedures.
The symptoms of botulism can range from mild, including transient nausea and vomiting, to severe cases that progress to heart and lung failure and, sometimes, death. Food-borne botulism occurs typically in unrefrigerated or poorly refrigerated foods and foods without preservatives (especially uncooked or half-cooked meats). It can be prevented by careful use of refrigeration and preservative techniques, and the toxin can be destroyed with heat.
Clostridium botulin and botulinum toxin might, it is feared, be misused as agents of bioterrorism.
Read Also:
- Bougie
Bougie: A thin cylinder of rubber, plastic, metal or another material that a physician inserts into or though a body passageway, such as the esophagus, to diagnose or treat a condition. A bougie may be used to widen a passageway, guide another instrument into a passageway, or dislodge an object. Bougies are available in a […]
- Bougienage
Bougienage: A procedure involving the use of a bougie. A bougie is a thin cylinder of rubber, plastic, metal or another material that a physician inserts into or though a body passageway, such as the esophagus, to widen the passageway, guide another instrument into a passageway, or dislodge an object. An alternate spelling of “bougienage” […]
- Boutonneuse
Boutonneuse: Fievre boutonneuse or African tick typhus, one of the tick-borne rickettsial diseases of the eastern hemisphere, similar to Rocky Mountain spotted fever, but less severe, with fever, a small ulcer (tache noire) at the site of the tick bite, swollen glands nearby (satellite lymphadenopathy), and a red raised (maculopapular) rash. The French word “boutonneuse” […]
- Bovine genome
Bovine genome: The genome of the cow (Bos taurus). The bovine genome is similar in size to the genomes of humans and other mammals, containing approximately 3 billion DNA base pairs. The breed of cattle selected for initial sequencing was Hereford, which is used in beef production. Sequencing began in December 2003 and a first […]
- Bovine
Having to do with cows and cattle, as in bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease), bovine tuberculosis, and bovine growth hormone.