Enlarge / Micrograph of Clostridium botulinumGetty | BSIP
Health officials in Europe are warning of an outbreak of botulism linked to botched weight loss procedures carried out in Turkey that aimed to paralyze stomach muscles to reduce appetite. So far, authorities have identified 67 cases—53 in Turkey, 12 in Germany, and one each in Austria and Switzerland.
Botulism is a life-threatening neuroparalytic condition caused by the botulinum toxin, which is made by the bacterial species Clostridium botulinum. There a several forms of botulism, but in this outbreak, the cases are a form called iatrogenic botulism, which occurs when too much
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