Anneris Rumaldo
Eng 101
The effects of foodborne botulism
Foodborne Botulism is the most common diseases in the U.S. due to the popularity of home canning. It is important to let people know what foodborne botulism is and how these families can prevent something so serious like this disease. Even though the government is working to prevent these accidents there are more ways to do it that might have better results like give families seminars and example of many death people. Foodborne Botulism has many effects on the human body such as paralyzing muscle disease, double vision, and difficulty swallowing and any person can die in seconds if it doesn’t have medical attention right away. And how are terrorist using bioterrorism to attack the United States. In this essay you will learn more about botulism in reality and what is the government doing to prevent more accident of this dangerous illness.
Foodborne Botulism is a serious paralysis illness caused by a nerve toxin produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. It is caused by eating foods that contain the botulism toxin. This toxin may not give a bad odor or taste to food. The disease most often develops after consuming improperly processed home-preserved foods that are inadequately cooked before consumption. However, commercial foods and restaurants are still occasional sources. Clostridium Botulinum bacteria grows on food and produces toxins that, when ingested, cause paralysis. Botulism poisoning is extremely rare, but so dangerous that each case is considered a public health emergency. Studies have shown that there is a 35 to 65 percent chance of death for patients who are not treated immediately and effectively with botulism antitoxin. In the United States, there are approximately 110 cases of botulism reported annually. Food-borne botulism accounts for 25% of all botulism cases and usually can be traced to eating contaminated home-preserved food.
Botulism is not contagious. Outbreaks of food-borne botulism usually can be traced to improperly home-canned foods, especially those with low amounts of acid, such as asparagus, green beans, beets, and corn, which allow the Clostridium botulinum bacteria to grow. Various frozen foods also have been implicated in outbreaks of the disease. According to (Senator Bill Frist) “there are only seven distinct types of botulinum toxin and these are describe by letters A through G”. (Frist 102) this means that the probability of getting this diseases is larger.
The effect of Botulism is paralyzing muscle disease that is usually contracted from uncooked or improperly cooked food. The paralyzing muscle is caused by the bacterial neurotoxin. . First the cranial nerves are affected (with neurological disorders), and then paralysis is progressing rapidly, extending the neck, arms, chest and legs. Progressive paralysis is accompanied by nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain, dizziness, vision problems and dry mouth. If is untreated the progress may cause paralysis in various parts of the body.it often seen as a descending paralysis of the arms, legs, and breathing muscles and death. Botulism is transmitted through food, when botulism toxic enters the body through contaminated food causing disturbances in the never function leading to paralysis. All forms lead to paralysis that typically starts with the muscles of the face and then spreads towards the limbs. In severe forms, it leads to paralysis of the breathing muscles and respiratory failure. The double vision, problems speaking and difficulty swallowing all happens at the same as the paralysis. It is important that each family member can identify these symptoms of foodborne botulism and prevent it by killing the Clostridium botulinum bacteria that canned food have.
The biggest problem is that the terrorists are taking advantage that not many people are taking the precaution for this issue especially in restaurants. Toxic is widely available for everybody, but the other ingredients are more difficult to obtain because is not that common. However it has been used unsuccessfully in attempted bioterrorism attacks by a Japanese cult. This could be used more easily to contaminate food. It would be hard to weaponize the toxin so it could be released as an aerosol; it’s not very likely to cause mass causalities in this manner. Botulism prevention efforts should be focused on those who preserve food at home, and restaurant workers. The nerve toxin that causes foodborne botulism is the most poisonous substance known to science. Doctors have been reaching that just a single gram of botulin toxin released in aerosol form could kill more than a million of people. The government has been looking for ways to stop the use of biological weapons on earth by putting more control in the canned food that come from various companies. Since the 1970s, restaurant-associated botulism outbreaks have accounted for a large proportion of U.S. cases.
The death rate is extremely high without the use of ventilating machines to support breathing. In the cases involving contaminated food, with treatment available the death rate is about 5 percent. However it’s expected that the rate would be much higher if the toxin were successfully released into the air in a popular area. Botulinum toxin affects the general nervous system, requiring a general application through injection into the bloodstream. Each year there is approximately twenty cases of food-borne botulism reported. Commercial canning companies have become a lot more cautious about their methods of canning and trying as hard as they can to prevent flaws because of the past reports of botulism from canning and also the strict health standards that they must follow. “Botulism occurs naturally in three forms: foodborne, infant and wound”. (Frist 20) The death of botulism has three types and it an affect any person.
The government is trying to have control of everything that has to do with food, because terrorists are taking this action more regularly because they know not many people know about situation and the government knows that botulism toxin into food and that would be fatal. What terrorist would do is sending or paying to the workers that have control over the canned food in the companies and they those workers send the canned of food in the way that the food already has the toxic. However the government has made the policy of checking each pack of food is because using toxin in food or beverages would be easier. The botulin toxin is very stable on uncooked food and untreated beverages. Contamination of a larger-volume, ready to eat, shot shelf live products as a commercial beverage could produce a larger number of casualties. The government is (Farb 3)
Clinicians who suspect that they are treating a case of botulism should immediately contact their state health department's emergency telephone number. Botulinum toxin has been developed as a biologic weapon by various countries and terrorist groups and could be disseminated by deliberate contamination of foods or aerosolization. This situation adds urgency to early recognition and reporting of botulism cases. We review surveillance data on cases and outbreaks of botulism in the United States from 1990 to 2000. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) maintains a 24-hour clinical consultation and emergency antitoxin release service, and state health departments conduct epidemiologic investigations of suspected cases. The imperfections and externalities in the market may provide too much or (more typically) too little food safety for individual consumers and for society. The likely societal magnitudes of some of the costs of food-borne ill-health are also discussed. The case for government intervention is quite clear, but care must be taken not to impose too high a level of food safety. According to Senator Bill Frist “normally, about 20 percent of patients with foodborne botulism require ventilators and extensive medical support” (Frist 185)
Researchers in New York are working on dual treatments that could be used after a human has been exposed to two of the most virulent bio-terror agents. The research is aimed at providing therapies for people already exposed to Anthrax and botulinum bacteria by exploiting biological quirks in both organisms’ cells. Michael Brothers, a graduate student in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, told Government Security News in an interview, that the research could lead to an inhalant treatment for Anthrax toxin exposure, as well as an injection for people who have been exposed to toxin produced by Clostridium botulinum bacteria -- the germ behind botulism. When a person has botulism every part of the nervous system get damaged, “in terms of Bioterrorism Botulism; Autonomic nervous system is the part of the nervous system that regulates internal organs unconsciously” (Farb 3)
In conclusion botulism is a serious illness because it can cause many deaths in seconds. The good thing is that the government has already taken action to this problem. Now they are checking very close attention to food, because they know that the terrorist are using this method to kill more people in the United States. However even though many people have already died from botulism, the government is putting more control on foods in a way that they can protect each people life.
This is a link
this is a horse who has botulism
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