DUSHANBE, December 7, 2012, Asia-Plus  -- The number of botulism cases is increasing in Tajikistan year by year, Samariddin Aliyev, the head of the Service for State Sanitary and Epidemiological Supervision under the Ministry of Health told Asia-Plus in an interview.

According to him, increase in the botulism cases in the country has resulted from wrong preservation of foods (foodborne botulism).

“Foodborne botulism has more frequently been from home-canned foods with low acid content,” Tajik chief sanitary inspector noted.

In Tajikistan, 86 people have been diagnosed with foodborne botulism over the first ten months of this year, at least two have died.

Botulism also known as botulinus intoxication is a rare but sometimes fatal paralytic illness caused by botulinum toxin which is a protein produced under anaerobic conditions by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, and affecting a wide range of mammals, birds and fish.

The toxins enter the human body in one of three ways: by colonization of the digestive tract by the bacterium in children (infant botulism) or adults (adult intestinal toxemia), by ingestion of toxin from foods (foodborne botulism) or by contamination of a wound by the bacterium (wound botulism).  Person to person transmission of botulism does not occur.

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 causes respiratory failure. In light of this life-threatening complication, all suspected cases of botulism are treated as medical emergencies, and public health officials are usually involved to prevent further cases from the same source.

Botulism can be prevented by killing the spores by pressure cooking or autoclaving at 121°C for 30 minutes or providing conditions that prevent the spores from growing.  Additional precautions for infants include not feeding them honey.