[Familial poisoning with Karwinskia humboldtiana]

The ingestion of ripe fruit of the Karwinskia humboldtiana, a shrub commonly known as tullidora or coyotillo, produces an intoxication described in the literature as a symmetric flaccid paralysis of the hind limbs, progressive and ascendent, that in severe cases may cause bulbar paralysis and death. The cause of an acute accidental intoxication of an entire family is presented here, wherein ten out of thirteen members ingested the ripe fruit of the tullidora. Three died, the father and two daughters. For the first time the toxins determination in blood by thin layer chromatography method is described. This method supports the diagnosis with other polyradiculoneuritis such as poliomyelitis and the Guillain Barre's syndrome.