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Foodborne botulinum type E intoxication associated with dried bean curd: first case report in Taiwan
Lung-Shiang Lai1, Yi-Mei Wang, Chin-Hsien Lin
1Department of Neurology, National Taiwan University Hospital Yun-Lin Branch, Yun-Lin, Taiwan.
Purpose:
Botulism type E intoxication is a rare condition among human botulism. We aim to describe a first case of botulism type E intoxication in Taiwan.
Case Report:
We report a 36-year-old young man with foodborne botulism type E associated with commercially vacuum packaged dried bean curd. He developed bilateral ptosis, diplopia and dysphagia 4 days after taking the dried bean curd. Electrophysiologic findings demonstrated waxing responses to 3 Hz repetitive nerve stimulation and decreased compound muscle action potentials on peripheral nerve conduction study. A bioassay for botulism in mice demonstrated that the patient had botulism caused by type E botulinum toxin. Antibodeis to C. botulinum type E were identified from his serum, confirming the diagnosis.
Conclusions:
This is the first known case of foodborne type E botulism in Taiwan. The potential source of this foodborne botulism should consider contaminated food made of soy beans.
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