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Botulism is caused by eating foods that contain the
botulism poison.
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It very difficult to tell if food contains botulism poison because you
Can't see it
Can't smell it
Can't taste it
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"Currently, the only way to know for sure whether
a
food contains the botulism poison is through tests that can be
performed at the laboratories at the Centers
for Disease Control and
Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia. But, it takes
several weeks to get
the results of those tests."
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Jay Butler, MD
Director, Arctic Investigations Program, National Center for
Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) |
The symptoms for botulism can be very similar to the symptoms of some
other diseases. Therefore, if botulism is suspected, its very important
to determine if poison is in the food that has been eaten. If you think
you have botulism, it is very important not to throw out any leftover
food. Testing of food that has been recently eaten can be very valuable to
determine if botulism poison is in the food.
Barbara Riley, MD
Physician, Kanakanak Hospital
Dillingham, Alaska
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"I think the fear of death is
immense
because we have had people die with botulism.
Anyone who has the
potential of being exposed needs to know
that people die from
botulism."
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You can't see, smell, or
taste botulism poison.
If you think you have
botulism, don't throw out food that has recently been eaten so that it
can be tested.
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This page last reviewed: March 28, 2002
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