Large Outbreak of Botulism Associated with a Church Potluck Meal - Ohio, 2015

On Apr 21, 2015, the Fairfield Medical Center (FMC) and Fairfield Department of Health contacted the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) about a patient suspected of having botulism in Fairfield County OH. Botulism is a severe, potentially fatal neuroparalytic illness. Within 2 hours of health department notification, four more patients with similar clinical features arrived at FMC's emergency department. Later that afternoon, one patient died of respiratory failure shortly after arriving at the emergency department. Here, McCarty et al explain how a church potluck meal caused the outbreak.