botulism

noun

bot·​u·​lism ˈbä-chə-ˌli-zəm 

: acute food poisoning that is caused by botulinum toxin produced in food by a bacterial clostridium (Clostridium botulinum) and is characterized by muscle weakness and paralysis, disturbances of vision, swallowing, and speech, and a high mortality rate

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

Last August, the World Health Organization warned of counterfeit batches of a botulism toxin product called Dysport. —Beth Mole, Ars Technica, 16 Mar. 2023

Emergent BioSolutions, which Mr. El-Hibri took public in 2006, bought up competitors in order to sell treatments for smallpox, botulism and other potential agents of germ warfare, becoming a prime federal contractor for biodefense vaccines and treatments. —Emily Langer, Washington Post, 5 May 2022

In the past month, crews in airboats on Tule Lake in the Klamath National Wildlife Refuge have rescued roughly 2,000 birds infected with avian botulism, in an outbreak that is threatening millions of water and shorebirds. —Tom Stienstra, SFChronicle.com, 1 Sep. 2020

The Great Lakes are now home to 186 non-native species, some of which have ravaged native fish populations, spawned noxious algae growth and triggered botulism outbreaks that have killed tens of thousand of birds. —jsonline.com, 30 Aug. 2021

Historical notes on botulism, Clostridium botulinum, botulinum toxin, and the idea of the therapeutic use of the toxin. —Rebecca Kreston, Discover Magazine, 31 July 2016

Lyons Magnus, the maker of coffee and nutritional drinks, is expanding a recall of dozens of different products over potential bacterial contamination that could cause botulism poisoning. —Irina Ivanova, CBS News, 12 Aug. 2022

In 2013, the US Food and Drug Administration approved the first equine antitoxin targeting all botulism subtypes. —Claire Panosian Dunavan, Discover Magazine, 11 Jan. 2018

Ray said a researcher studying cases of avian botulism visited the marshes of the Great Salt Lake in the early 1900s and would go on to testify before Congress that next to the Mississippi Delta, the Great Salt Lake wetlands was the most important place in the United States for migratory birds. —The Salt Lake Tribune, 22 July 2022

See More

Word History

First Known Use

1896, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

botulism

noun

bot·​u·​lism ˈbäch-ə-ˌliz-əm 

: poisoning caused by eating food containing a toxin made by a spore-forming bacterium

Medical Definition

botulism

noun

bot·​u·​lism ˈbäch-ə-ˌliz-əm 

: acute food poisoning caused by botulinum toxin produced in food by a bacterium of the genus Clostridium (C. botulinum) and characterized by muscle weakness and paralysis, disturbances of vision, swallowing, and speech, and a high mortality rate see botulinum toxin, limberneck