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The Fairfield Medical Center said in a statement that the
patients, five of whom were in a critical condition, had all
attended a picnic at Cross Pointe Free Will Baptist Church in
Lancaster on Sunday.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had sent
anti-toxin to treat the sick, the hospital said, while local
health officials investigated the cause of the outbreak.
Botulism is a rare but potentially fatal paralytic illness
caused by a nerve toxin that is produced by certain bacteria,
according to the CDC.
Symptoms include drooping eyelids, slurred speech and muscle
weakness, which can progress to paralysis of the limbs and
respiratory muscles, the CDC said.
The hospital said Botulism is not contagious, so there is no
threat to the public at-large or people at the hospital.
Symptoms generally begin showing up within 36 hours of eating
the contaminated food, but can start as many as 10 days after,
the hospital said.
(Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Editing by Simon
Cameron-Moore)
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