Abstract |
Botulism caused by neurotoxins of Clostridium (C.) botulinum is a rare, but serious life-threatening disease in humans and animals. Botulism in livestock is usually caused by the oral uptake of C. botulinum neurotoxins (BoNT) via contaminated feed and is characterized by flaccid paralysis. In the recent past a new syndrome caused by BoNT in dairy cattle was postulated. It was supposed that C. botulinum is able to colonize the lower intestine and may subsequently produce neurotoxin. The continuous resorption of small amounts of these BoNT may then provoke the so called syndrome of "chronic" or "visceral" botulism involving unspecific clinical symptoms, reduced performance of dairy cows and massive animal losses in the affected herd. To test this hypothesis a case-control study was conducted involving 92 affected farms and 47 control farms located in Northern Germany. Fecal samples of 1388 animals were investigated for the presence of BoNT to verify the key requirement of the hypothesis of chronic botulism. BoNT was not detected in any of the fecal samples using the most sensitive standard method for BoNT detection, the mouse bioassay. Therefore, the existence of "chronic" or "visceral" botulism could not be proven.
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Authors | Christian Seyboldt, Sabrina Discher, Eva Jordan, Heinrich Neubauer, Katharina Charlotte Jensen, Amely Campe, Lothar Kreienbrock, Theresa Scheu, Anika Wichern, Frieder Gundling, Phuong DoDuc, Svenja Fohler, Amir Abdulmawjood, Günter Klein, Martina Hoedemaker |
Journal | Veterinary microbiology
(Vet Microbiol)
Vol. 177
Issue 3-4
Pg. 398-402
(Jun 12 2015)
ISSN: 1873-2542 [Electronic] Netherlands |
PMID | 25882532
(Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.)
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Copyright | Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. |
Chemical References |
- Neurotoxins
- Botulinum Toxins
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Topics |
- Animals
- Biological Assay
- Botulinum Toxins
(isolation & purification, metabolism)
- Botulism
(etiology, metabolism, veterinary)
- Case-Control Studies
- Cattle
- Cattle Diseases
(etiology, metabolism)
- Chronic Disease
- Clostridium botulinum
(metabolism, pathogenicity)
- Feces
(chemistry)
- Female
- Germany
- Humans
- Mice
- Neurotoxins
(isolation & purification, metabolism)
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