Botulism (foodborne), United States, 1979-993. OCCURRENCE
Worldwide; sporadic cases, family and general outbreaks occur where food products are prepared or preserved by methods that do not destroy the spores and permit toxin formation. Cases rarely result from commercially processed products; outbreaks have occurred from contamination through cans damaged after processing. Cases of intestinal botulism have been reported from five continents: Asia, Australia, Europe, and North and South America. The actual incidence and distribution of intestinal botulism are unknown because physician awareness and diagnostic testing remain limited, as demonstrated by a review of intestinal botulism cases reported between 1976, when it was first recognized in California, and the beginning of 1999. Of the 1,700 cumulative global case total, over 1400 were reported by the USA, with close to half of those cases reported by California.
Botulism (foodborne), United States, 1979-99
Botulism (infant), United States, 1979-99
Botulism, Other (includes wound and unspecified), United States, 1979-99
Internationally, about 150 cases have been detected in Argentina; less than 20 each in Australia and Japan; less than 15 in Canada; and about 30 from Europe (mostly Italy and the UK), with scattered reports from Chile, China, Israel and Yemen.