Abstract
Background: Food-borne botulism is one of the potentially fatal forms of food poisoning, usually caused by ingestion of home-canned
vegetables, fruits and fish products.
Objectives: The aim of this study was to report an outbreak of botulism due to homemade doogh in Hamadan, Iran.
Patients and Methods: During an outbreak, 10 members of a family referred to the hospital because of food poisoning. All patients had
a history of consumption of doogh, a traditional drink. After careful physical examination, all of them were hospitalized. Botulism was
suspected in all patients except for the first patient.
Results: The first patient was a 76-year-old man who died after 12 hours of admission due to respiratory distress. Nine subsequent patients
were diagnosed as botulism with the following symptoms: diplopia (90%), dizziness (70%), nausea and vomiting (80%), ptosis (60%),
symmetric weakness of extremities (60%), dysarthria (30%), chest discomfort (30%), mydriasis (20%), dysphasia (20%) and dry mouth (20%).
All of the nine patients received botulinum antitoxin and improved during 5-15 days of hospitalization.
Conclusions: Immediate diagnosis based on careful history and physical examination are essential for management of botulism. People
should be notified about proper food handling and preparation of traditional homemade foods.