Botulism--diagnosis, management and public health considerations.

Botulism is an uncommon but often fatal disease associated with ingestion of a potent neurotoxin present in improperly preserved foods. Exposures to commercially preserved foods with an odd or peculiar taste almost never represent exposure to botulism toxin. Improperly prepared home-canned products which are tasted or consumed without heating are more likely to be associated with botulism. The management of suspect and confirmed cases of botulism is presented by medical epidemiologists in the State Department of Public Health, Bureau of Communicable Disease Control, to provide physicians in California with a practical approach to this problem.