Botulism Outbreak at Church Potluck Leaves 1 Dead, 20 Others in Hospital
One person has died and at least 20 more were hospitalized with botulism linked to a church potluck in Ohio, health officials said on Wednesday.
Botulism, a foodborne illness often caused by improperly home-canned foods with low acid content, was traced back to a picnic held Sunday at Cross Pointe Free Will Baptist Church in Lancaster, Ohio. The Ohio Department of Health confirmed that each of the botulism patients attended the pot-luck style event, according to Reuters.
The Fairfield Medical Center said in a statement that a neurologist identified the first suspected case of botulism early Tuesday, with two more likely cases identified hours later, reported The Columbus Dispatch. Most of the sickened are reportedly middle-aged, but little is known about the person who died.
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Bill Pitts, pastor of Cross Pointe Church, explained the nature of the picnic on Tuesday.
"Our main emphasis was of course the fellowship," he said, according to 10TV. "The church provided the meats and the drinks and then people usually bring a covered dish."
Pastor Pitts went on to request prayers for those suffering from the botulism outbreak.
"Our main emphasis, right now, is for everyone to pray," he said. "These are people that we love and work with. [I'm] just calling out for a lot of people to pray for them if they would."
Ten of the patients were sent to Columbus hospitals while five others are being treated in the intensive-care unit at Fairfield Medical. The remaining five patients were in the emergency department of the medical center as of Tuesday night.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued anti-toxin to the sick while local health officials investigated the origination of the outbreak. The Fairfield County Department of Health is leading the investigation working to identify the contaminated food.
Botulism is caused by a nerve toxin that is produced by certain bacteria, according to the CDC. It's not a communicable disease. Symptoms of the rare but life-threatening paralytic disease include dropping eyelids, double vision, slurred speech and muscle weakness, which can lead to paralysis of the limbs and respiratory muscles.
Cross Pointe Church did not respond to The Christian Post's request for comment by press time.
