zoonoses and communicable diseases common to ... - PAHO/WHO

32 BACTERIOSESFigure 4. Reported cases of botulism per year, Argentina, 1967–1981.30272421Number of cases18151296301967 '68 '69 '70 '71 '72 '73 '74 '75 '76 '77YearSource: PAHO Epidemiol Bull 3(4):2, 1982.'78 '79 '80 '81478 cases, and 109 deaths in Japan (Hauschild, 1989). In the rest of Asia and inAfrica, few cases have been identified (Smith, 1977).Infant botulism was recognized for the first time in the United States, and then inCanada, several European countries, and Australia. From 1976 to 1980, 184 caseswere recorded in the United States, 88 of which occurred in California and 96 in 25other states. Currently, infant botulism is the predominant form in the United States,with approximately 100 cases reported each year (Suen et al., 1988). The diseasehas also been described in Argentina, Australia, Canada, the former Czechoslovakia,Great Britain, and Italy. Almost all cases occurred in children under 6 months of age(Morris, 1983) though some occurred in children up to 1 year.The first case of wound botulism was recognized in the United States in 1943. By1982, 27 cases were recorded, 20 of them in states west of the Mississippi River(CDC, 1982). In 1986, MacDonald et al. reported on the incidence of botulism inthe United States between 1976 and 1984, including 16 cases of wound botulism(two of these in drug addicts using intravenous drugs).Occurrence in Animals: Botulism in animals, including birds, is caused by typesC (C alpha and C beta) and D, but there are also outbreaks due to A, E, and B.Botulism in bovines is becoming economically important in some areas, where itcan affect a large number of animals. Such areas, generally poor in phosphorus, arefound in the southwestern United States, in Corrientes province in Argentina, and inPiaui and Matto Grosso in Brazil. However, bovine botulism occurs even more frequentlyin South Africa (“lamziekte”) and Australia. It is also important in Senegal,where it is believed to cause more cattle loss than any other disease. In other countries,sporadic outbreaks and cases occur, primarily caused by ingestion of fodder