EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 625 



POISONING FROM BACILLUS BOTULINUS 



Cause: Prevention; Treatment 



Circular Bulletin No. 47 



BY ZAE NORTHRUP WYANT,* BACTERIOLOGY SECTION 



Early History — Food poisoning from Bacillus hotuh'nus has been known 

 for a goodly nurnber of years to be more or less prevalent both among human 

 and animal kind. Allantiasis, or botulism — the name by which this type 

 of poisoning is most commonlj^ known — has been recognized by German 

 physicians since the latter part of the 18th century, the first recorded case 

 occurring in 1735. A serious outbreak occurred in Germany in 1793 from 

 eating sausage which contained a great deal of blood. After this time the 

 number of cases of botulism, so-called because the disease was produced 

 from eating spoiled sausages, rapidly increased. Many sections of Germany 

 were involved, official warnings failing to check their incidence. Several 

 outbreaks of this ' 'sausage — or meat— poisoning' ' were reported from Rus- 

 sia, Austria, Hungary', Denmark, and France, and one each from England 

 and Holland. 



Botulism in America — In America comparatively few cases of botulism 

 have been recognized but a survey of the reports of food poisoning during 

 the past 25 years shows that there have been a number of cases, mostly 

 in California, in which the symptoms are more or less indicative of this con- 

 dition. It is probable that many cases of so-called "ptomain poisoning", 

 in the past thought to be the common type of food poisoning, have actually 

 been botulism. 



Botulism in Horses. — Among livestock botulism has probably been known 

 for many years. In 1813 a fatal disease of horses termed "head disease" 

 appeared in Germany. This affection spread through certain sections of 

 Europe from 1824 to 1828 and w^as described as "fever of the nerves"; later 

 as ' 'nervous sickness", and ' 'Borna disease' ' from the fact that it was preva- 

 lent around Borna (Germany). In the United States various names such 

 as ' 'cramp of the neck' ', ' 'mad staggers", ' 'sleepy staggers' ', ' 'blind staggers' ', 

 or simply "staggers", "cerebritis", "cerebrospinal meningitis", "forage 

 poisoning" and the like have been used to designate this disease in horses 

 and mules. In some sections of the United States it is also called "pasture 

 disease". 



In Cattle. — Among cattle such other names have been applied to this dis- 

 ease as "corn stalk disease" and "silage poisoning." 



*Re6igned June 30, 1921. Correspondence relating to this subject should be addressed to Bacterio- 

 logical Section, East Lansing, Michigan. 



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