Food Borne Botulism Case Study Paper

Question 1: As a public health practitioner in Argentina, what are the major concerns raised by these two possible cases of botulism in Buenos Aires?

There could possibly be more cases of the foodborne botulism because it is caused by ingesting contaminated food and others may have eaten the same foods eaten by the infected men. This could possibly cause a food borne botulism epidemic and all other possible cases need to be searched and the specific foods the men were exposed to should be identified as quickly as possible.

Question 2: How might you go about swiftly determining if there are other cases of botulism associated with the cases in Buenos Aires?

1.) Talk with the infected men about the foods they ate to see if they have any common meals and ask if they shared these meals with anyone.

2.) Go and talk with the family member of these men who would have eaten with them around the time they became infected and check for any symptoms of botulism

3.) Go and talk with their co-workers and see if they shared any meals or ate at any of the same places and check for any symptoms of botulism.

4.) Go to all surrounding clinics and hospitals and request al records of the people who had come in within the given time frame who showed symptoms associated with botulism.

5.) Follow up with the patients who presented these symptoms that may have been misdiagnosed to check to see if in fact they had been infected and contracted botulism.

6.) Ask all surrounding labs if they have had any botulism testing request.

7.) Make the public aware of the outbreak.

Question 3A: What key points would you include in the press release?

The who, what, when, where, and why of the specific case.

1.) Where and what the victims ate

2.) What activities the men interacted in during the time of being infected

3.) Where the individuals live and work

4.) Making the community aware that these cases were diagnosed in the community

5.) Signs and symptoms of botulism...