Nose-spray vaccine against botulism effective in first tests

A preclinical study found a new nasal spray vaccine to provide complete protection against a major botulism toxin, according to a study published today in the Nature journal Gene Therapy . Botulism is caused by a bacterium, Clostridium botulinum , which produces toxins that cause paralysis an...

Scientists reveal structure of new botulism nerve toxin subtype

UPTON, NY Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have determined the atomic-level structure of a third subtype of botulinum neurotoxin a deadly toxin produced by certain bacteria that causes the disease botulism, and is also used in cosmetic and therap...

Genome of Botulism Bacterium Revealed

The Botulism bacterium, Clostridium botulinum, produces the world's most lethal toxin. Less than 2 kg is enough to wipe off humanity from the face of the earth! Botox , that contains miniscule amounts of the toxin, is used medically. Now, the genome of the organism is exposed. The report in...

Still Another Case of Carrot juice-linked botulism in Canada

The third case of carrot juice-linked botulism has been reported in Canada following two cases of paralysis when the two people drank U.S.-produced carrot juice earlier// this month. According to reports by the local media the latest victim is from Quebec while the first two are from Toronto. I...

Bamboo Shoots Causes Botulism Outbreak

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there is an outbreak of apparent botulism, which could be due to the consumption of home-preserved// bamboo shoots. It has left more than 150 people sick after festival in northern Thailand. WHO further stated that according to the Thai Ministry of...

Thailand To Procure Botulism Antitoxin Internationally

BANGKOK - Thailand has received emergency shipments of botulism antitoxin from Canada, England and the United States after an outbreak of the disease// in which more than 100 villagers in Thailand's northern Nan province contacted botulism after they consumed contaminated bamboo shoots prepared in ...

Resurgence Of Botulism

The unfrozen ready-to-eat meals could lead to the resurgence of botulism as a major food poisoning hazard. Advances in freezing have made botulism a rare problem in modern society. But according to food scientists, a new generation of ready-to-eat foods// that are only refrigerated before sold coul...

Heroin Injection may Lead to Wound Botulism

In a case study in PLoS Medicine, doctors report on the case of a 35 year old heroin user who came to the accident and emergency department //with double vision, slurred speech, drooping eyelids, and eye muscle weakness. The diagnosis turned out to be wound botulism. Wound botulism is a potent...

New Survey Reveals High Expectations for Popular Aesthetic Injections

...rugator muscle activity in adult patients. Botulinum toxin effects may spread beyond the site of local injection to produce systemic symptoms of botulism such as swallowing and breathing difficulties that can occur within hours to weeks of injection. The risk of symptoms is probably greatest in children...

Trust for America's Health Applauds President Obama's Call for a Complete Review of the U.S. Food Safety System

... science staff and 600 inspectors; Gaps in current inspection practices mean acts of agroterrorism -- such as contamination of wheat gluten or botulism -- could go undetected until they are widespread; While 15 federal agencies are involved in food safety, the efforts are fragmented and no one...

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Botulism in Medical Technology

Tengion Launches Third Phase 2 Clinical Trial of Regenerated Human Bladder

...ither symptom improvement or ability to tolerate pharmacotherapy, more aggressive measures may be utilized, including the investigational injection of botulism toxin (e.g., Botox, Allergan), neurostimulation (e.g., InterStim, Medtronic) or surgical intervention. Surgery in this population is generally reserve...

DOR BioPharma Announces Publication Describing Results of Its Multivalent Botulinum Toxin Vaccine BT-VACC

...nd often fatal descending flaccid paralysis. Natural botulism resulting from ingestion of toxin from contaminated food is very rare, but artificially, botulism also can result from bioterrorism and biowarfare. Because extremely small amounts can cause neurological effects, it is classified as a category A Bio...

DOR BioPharma Announces Issuance of European Patent for Its Oral Multivalent Botulinum Toxin Vaccine BT-VACC

...n fatal descending flaccid muscle paralysis. Natural botulism resulting from ingestion of toxin from contaminated food is very rare, but artificially, botulism also can result from bioterrorism and biowarfare. Because extremely small amounts of the toxin can cause neurological effects, it is classified as a c...

Botulism in Medical Definition

Artificial induction of immunity

...ase, but still leaves it able to induce immunity to tetanus when injected into subjects. The heated, denatured toxin is called a toxoid . See also botulism Adjuvants The use of simple molecules such as toxoids for immunization tends to produce a low response by the immune system, and thus poo...

Botulism in Medical Dictionary

Botulism

Botulism also known as botulinus intoxication is a rare but serious paralytic illness caused by botulinum toxin, which is produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. The toxin enters the body in one of four ways: by colonization of the digestive tract by the... Read about botulism ...

Infant botulism

Botulism also known as botulinus intoxication is a rare but serious paralytic illness caused by botulinum toxin, which is produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. The toxin enters the body in one of four ways: by colonization of the digestive tract by the... Although the worldwide...

Toxin

...era toxin , the model for enterotoxins, whose action on ... Thus, the net effect of the toxin is to cause cAMP to be produced at an ... Wound botulism is caused by toxin produced from a wound infected with ... These are all symptoms of the muscle paralysis caused by the bacterial toxin . .....

Food poisoning

...f food . It can lead to infectious diarrhea. Food poisoning tends to occur at picnics, school cafeterias, and large social functions. ... botulism is a very serious form of food poisoning that can be fatal. ... Provides links to current news, general information sites, and specific condit...

Clostridium

...ting and treatment. ... Clostridium botulinum - The organism that causes botulism is common in nature ... clostridium n. , pl. -ia . Any of various ro...tis and why patients may suffer relapses of the condition. Read about botulism causes ( Clostridium botulinum toxin), symptoms (muscle paralysis, dry mo...

Botulism in Biological News

System Drastically Cuts Down Botulism Detection Time

A new study reveals critical molecular events in the origin of fat cells. The findings are central to understanding chronic diseases, such as obesity and diabetes, as fat cells produce hormones critical for metabolic control, the researchers said. The study finds that a hormonal cocktail routinel...

UCI awarded $45 million for infectious disease research

...ng diseases, like dengue fever, and potential bioterrorism agents, like the botulism toxin. It also seeks to train next-generation scientists and educate resear...tal, especially among children. Improved detection and treatment of the botulism toxin. Considered one of the most potent, it can contaminate food and cause...

New 'chemical radar' among national security innovations in ACS podcast

...rism attacks with biological threats that the National Institutes of Health calls Category A agents. Those materials include biological agents such as botulism toxin and infectious agents such as anthrax and smallpox. Global Challenges recalls the introduction of radar, which gave 20th century society its ...

Researchers develop new ultrasensitive assay to detect most poisonous substance known

...toxin is produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. When ingested, the toxin disables nerve function and can result in paralysis and even death. botulism normally results when a person eats food tainted with C. botulinum bacteria or if a wound is infected by the bacterium. Infants, whose digestive syste...

Scientists determine drug target for the most potent botulinum neurotoxin

... UPTON, NY Botulinum neurotoxin responsible for the deadly food poisoning disease botulism and for the beneficial effects of smoothing out facial wrinkles can also be used as a dreaded biological weapon. When ingested or inhaled, less than ...

Genome of Clostridium botulinum reveals the background to world's deadliest toxin

...ge animal hosts for prolonged periods of time. Occasionally it gets into a living animal, via contaminated food or open wounds, leading to infant botulism or wound botulism, both of which are serious human infections. The host can be quickly overpowered and, in some cases, killed by the toxin, and C. bot...

Highly concentrated botulinum preparation for cosmetic injections can result in severe illness

... An examination of 4 cases of botulism following cosmetic injections to the face indicate...o a report in the November 22/29 issue of JAMA. botulism is a rare paralytic illness caused by the toxins o...tion for cosmetic and therapeutic use, no cases of botulism with detectable serum toxin have previously been a...

Creation of antibiotic in test tube holds promise for better antibiotics

...latter are made by post-translational modification of proteins. Nisin works well against Gram-positive bacteria and food-borne pathogens that cause botulism and listeriosis because it punches holes into cell membranes and binds to essential molecules in the disease-causing bacteria. Hitting on at least two...

Report focuses on challenges to unlocking future promise of vaccines

...ents that are relatively rare today, but are poised to emerge by either natural or terrorism-related means, like avian influenza, West Nile virus, and botulism toxin. According to the report, research and development must continue the progress of the past to address those diseases that have eluded the deve...

New NIAID grants strengthen national biodefense and emerging infectious diseases research network

...nducts research that will lead to next-generation treatments, vaccines and diagnostic tools for diseases such as anthrax, plague, smallpox, tularemia, botulism and West Nile fever. University of California, Irvine, principal investigator Alan G. Barbour, M.D., will head a consortium whose members include f...

Botulism in Biological Technology

Neogen Reports 16% Increase in Revenues

...ith sales up more than 40%. A number of well-publicized outbreaks of equine botulism in the past year and a focused marketing response contributed to a double-digit increase in sales of the company's equine botulism vaccine for the year. Animal Safety also saw a double-digit increase in sal...

Neogen Reports Best Quarter in Its 26-Year History

... more than 60% in the quarter, as the company responded to suspected equine botulism outbreaks in at least four U.S. states. Neogen is the exclusive provider of a vaccine against the most prevalent type of equine botulism and expanded its domestic distribution of this proprietary vaccine during t...

Botulism in Biological Definition

Muscle

...cle weakness due to antibodies to the acetylcholine receptor, and its related condition Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome (LEMS). Tetanus and botulism are bacterial infections in which bacterial toxins cause increased or decreased muscle tone, respectively. The myopathies are all diseases affect...