A person dies after “consuming sardines from a jar” in a restaurant in Bordeaux, botulism suspected

A person died after having probably contracted botulism, according to an urgent bulletin published on the evening of Tuesday September 12 by the Directorate General of Health (DGS), relayed by France Bleu Gironde. She has “consumed sardines in a jar” in a restaurant in Bordeaux, the Tchin Tchin Wine Bar, “very popular with Anglo-Saxon customers”. This is also the case for eight other people hospitalized in Bordeaux and Île-de-France whose symptoms are “clinically suggestive of botulism”. “All cases” attended this establishment “between Monday September 4 and Sunday September 10”.

Seven of the eight people hospitalized are “in intensive care or in a continuous monitoring unit”. “Analyses are underway by the National Botulism Reference Center for biological confirmation of botulism”indicates the same document. “The incubation time for food-borne botulism can range from a few hours to a few days”, he also specifies. Also, “the occurrence of other cases, in the coming days, linked to this establishment is not excluded”.

At this stage, 10 suspected cases have been officially identified, including the eight people hospitalized and the one who died. She died out “in the Paris region”assured Tuesday, September 12 in the evening of Doctor Benjamin Clouzeau, resuscitation doctor at Bordeaux University Hospital, in a message on X (ex-Twitter), relayed by France Bleu Gironde. “A new case in Spain (still linked to the Bordeaux outbreak) has just been reported to us”he asserts elsewhere.

Botulism is a rare but potentially fatal neurological disease. “Symptoms include, to varying degrees: early digestive signs which may be fleeting (abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea), eye damage (failure to accommodate, blurred or double vision), dry mouth accompanied by ‘a deficiency in swallowing or even speech, or neurological symptoms (wrong paths, more or less severe paralysis of the muscles). There is usually no fever.’specifies the DGS.