Abstract
Botulism is a rare but severe disease which is characterized by paralysis and inhibition of secretions. Only a few cases had been reported at the end of the 19th century in France. The disease was frequent during the second world war, and then the incidence decreased progressively. However, human botulism is still present in France with 10–25 cases every year. Food-borne botulism was the main form of botulism in France, whereas infant botulism (17 cases between 2004 and 2016) was rare, and wound and inhalational botulism were exceptional. Type B was the prevalent botulism type and was mainly due to consumption of home-made or small-scale preparations of cured ham and to a lesser extent other pork meat products. In the recent period (2000–2016), a wider diversity of botulism types from various food origin including industrial foods was reported. Severe cases of type A and F botulism as well as type E botulism were more frequent. Albeit rare, the severity of botulism justifies its continued surveillance and recommendations to food industry and consumers regarding food hygiene and preservation practices.
Highlights
Botulism is a serious disease of humans and vertebrate animals that is characterized by flaccid paralysis and inhibition of secretions
Botulism is caused by potent neurotoxins, called botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs), which are produced by toxigenic Clostridium botulinum and more rarely by atypical strains from other clostridia (Clostridium baratii, Clostridium butyricum) and non-Clostridium species
Human botulism form and incidence are variable according to the countries and depend notably on the dietary habits
Summary
Botulism is a serious disease of humans and vertebrate animals that is characterized by flaccid paralysis and inhibition of secretions. Since 1992, the survey of botulism based on clinical reporting and bacteriological investigations was performed by the RNSP (Réseau National de Santé Publique), which was converted into InVS (Institut national de Veille Sanitaire) in 1998, and in SPF (Santé Publique France) in 2016. Up to 1971, botulism cases were defined on clinical symptoms and investigation of suspected foods including detection of BoNT by mouse bioassay (MBA) and eventually isolation and characterization of C. botulinum. Reference Center based on the clinical declarations and investigations of biological (serum, feces) and food samples including BoNT identification by MBA as well as detection of toxigenic C. botulinum by molecular biology method in feces/food and isolation/characterization of C. botulinum strains. This review is from published scientific papers from international and national literature
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