Clostridium botulinum. food poisoning

Bacteria not only attack teeth but can also make people extremely sick. Therefore, canned food must be specially prepared to prevent the growth of bacteria. This is usually done by boiling or steaming. People who can their own food at home, however, do not have the sophisticated machines that food-canning manufacturers have. Even so, there are other methods that home canners can use to preserve their own food and keep their families safe. For example, high heat can be used to kill the bacteria Clostridium botulinum, which causes one deadly form of food poisoning called botulism. Acidic conditions will also kill C. botulinum. Because the bacteria cannot survive at a pH below 4.5, very acidic foods such as tomatoes, pears, and peaches are safe for home canning. 

Just as too much acetylcholine activity can be a problem, so can too little. Botulinum toxin is a mixture of eight proteins that act to inhibit the release of acetylcholine. This toxin is the product of the anaerobic bacterium Clostridium botulimm. Ingestion of this toxin causes the life-threatening food poisoning known as botulism. 

Botulism Clostridium botulinum botulinum The bacterium is the cause of a fatal form of food poisoning due to release of its toxin. The toxin also blocks release of acetylchohne leading to paralysis of some muscles... 

Botulism is most commonly caused by ingestion of a neurotoxin produced by Clostridium botulinum in improperly canned food. Poisoning may also occur after wound contamination with the organism. Infant botulism may occur when spores of the organism germinate and manufacture the toxin in the intestinal tract of infants. Botulinum toxin works by inhibiting ACh release at all cholinergic synapses. 

Botulinus toxin comes from Clostridium botulinum, an organism that causes food poisoning. Botulinus toxin prevents the release of ACh from nerve endings by mechanisms that are not clear. Death occurs from respiratory failure caused by the inability of diaphragm muscles to contract. 

Botulinum toxin is produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. It is among the most lethal substances known, and it has been estimated that 1-2 ounces of the pure toxin could kill the entire population of the United States. Poisoning of man and animals occurs when food containing the toxin is ingested. The most common source is improperly prepared canned fruits and vegetables or fish products. Although only... 

Nitrosamines can be formed when amines that occur naturally in food react with sodium nitrite, NaN02, a preservative added to meats such as ham, bacon, and hot dogs to inhibit the growth of Clostridium botulinum, a bacterium responsible for a lethal form of food poisoning. Nitrosamines may also be formed in vivo in the gastrointestinal tract when bacteria in the body convert nitrates (N03 ) into nitrites (NO2 ), which then react with amines. 

Clostridium botulinum Botulism (au especially severe type of food poisoning)... 

Worldwide, sporadic cases and hmited outbreaks of botulism can occur when food and food products are prepared or preserved by improper methods that do not destroy the spores of Clostridium botulinum and permit the formation of botulinum toxin. In industrially developed countries, the case fatality rate of food-borne botulism is 5-10%. Person-to-person transmission of botulism is not known. Botulinum toxin is the most poisonous substance known and poses a major bioweapon threat. In addition to the clinical forms of natural botulism (food-borne, wound, and intestinal), there is a fourth, man-made form of inhalational botulism that results from aerosolized botulinum toxin. 

Botulinum toxins are a collection of protein molecules that are exquisitely poisonous to the nervous system. These toxins6 are metabolic products of a common soil bacterium, Clostridium botulinum, which is frequently found on raw agricultural products. Fortunately, the bacterium produces its deadly toxins only under certain rather restricted conditions, and if foods are properly processed so that these conditions are not created, the toxins can be avoided. Food processors have to be extremely careful with certain categories of food — canned foods having low acidity, for example - because the slightest contamination can be deadly. Most reported cases of botulism have involved vegetables improperly canned in the home. 

In an earlier piece of work Thom et al. working with a strain of Clostridium botulinum obtained from a food poisoning outbreak at Boise, Idaho, found that the spores withstood a steam pressure of 10 lbs. for 15 minutes while 15 lbs. steam pressure for 15 minutes destroyed them. 

The clostridial neurotoxins are the most toxic substances known to science. The neurotoxin produced from Clostridium tetani (tetanus toxin) is encountered by humans as a result of wounds and remains a serious public health problem in developing countries around the world. However, nearly everyone reared in the western world is protected from tetanus toxin as a result of the ordinary course of childhood immunizations. Humans are usually exposed to the neurotoxins produced by Clostridium botulinum (ie, the botu-linum toxins, of which there are seven in all) by means of food poisoning, although there are rare incidents of wound botulism and a colonizing infection of neonates known as infant botulism.1 Since the incidence of botulinum poisoning by all routes is very rare,... 

The seven serotypes of botulinum toxin produced by Clostridium botulinum are the most toxic substances known. They are associated with lethal food poisoning after the consumption of canned foods. This family of toxins was evaluated by the United States as a potential biological weapon in the 1960s and is believed to be an agent that could be used against our troops. Unlike other threat toxins, botulinum neurotoxin appears to cause the same disease after inhalation, oral ingestion, or injection. Death results from skeletal muscle paralysis and resultant ventilatory failure. Because of its extreme toxicity, the toxin typically cannot be identified in body fluids, other than nasal... 

Botulism is a rare but serious paralytic illness caused by a nerve toxin that is produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. There are three main kinds of botulism. Foodbome botulism is caused by eating foods that contain the botulism toxin. Wound botulism is caused by toxin produced from a wound infected with Clostridium botulinum. Infant botulism is caused by consuming the spores of the botulinum bacteria, which then grow in the intestines and release toxin. All forms of botulism can be fatal and are considered medical emergencies. Foodbome botulism can be especially dangerous because many people can be poisoned by eating a contaminated food. 

Precautions Poison of toxin is produced by an organism called Clostridium botulinum. Found in soil and seawater. It can form spores that can contaminate food that is improperly processed, canned, preserved, or cooled. The spores can resist low cooking temperatures, then produce active organisms that in turn produce the toxins that taint the food. The toxin is one that affects the nerves of the peripheral nervous system. Double vision, dry mouth, nausea, vomiting, and progressive paralysis are symptoms. Humans and most animals are susceptible. Pigs, dogs, and cats are somewhat immune. 

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