They all had artisanal canned sardines at the same Bordeaux restaurant last week. So far, 12 cases of botulism have been identified in France in recent days, while around thirty are normally recorded each year.
Among the patients affected by botulinum toxin was a woman in her thirties who died in Île-de-France who had visited Bordeaux with her partner before returning to her home in the Paris region. Her companion is still in intensive care.
Additionally, eight people are currently being treated at Bordeaux University Hospital, seven of whom are in the intensive care unit. Another case was recorded in Barcelona (Spain), “whose days are not in danger.”
Up to 25 people in total could have consumed nine jars, of three or four sardines each, served on the table. This is the current challenge for the health authorities: to find the customers who have visited this Bordeaux restaurant in recent days.
Symptoms, phone number and payment tickets.
Health authorities recommend that people who visited the restaurant on the same dates and present symptoms (diarrhea, vomiting, vision or speech problems) “urgently consult a doctor or contact 15.”
Payment receipts and telephone numbers of potential customers were also recovered from the restaurant and analyzed by the DDPP (Departmental Directorate of Population Protection) for investigation. Valuable data, but it does not allow us to offer an exhaustive list of people who have consumed these sardines.
“Whoever has not reserved their table and has not paid in cash, we have no way of finding them,” acknowledges Benoît Elleboode, general director of ARS Nouvelle-Aquitaine on BFMTV.
An emergency message sent to healthcare professionals
Benoît Elleboode also indicated this Wednesday evening on BFMTV that the Ministry of Health had sent a DGS-Urgent (a message addressed to interested healthcare professionals and healthcare establishments in France). An initiative taken “to (health professionals, editor’s note) prevent these cases of botulism and that as soon as they see a patient with symptoms they should be questioned if they have been through Bordeaux and in this restaurant”, according to the director of the ARS New Aquitaine . Objective: diagnose as quickly as possible.
“The sooner we can administer the antitoxin, the better,” insisted the ARS director.
About his websitePublic Health France reports that the incubation period for foodborne botulism varies between 12 and 72 hours depending on the amount and type of toxin ingested.
“Normally there will be no more cases at the end of this week,” warned Benoît Elleboode this Wednesday evening.
The difficulty of finding clients, often foreigners
Another difficulty, and not the least one, is that the establishment’s clientele is rather international: some of the patients treated in France come from foreign countries such as the United States, Germany and Ireland.
And the current context of the Rugby World Cup does not help the situation, since Bordeaux hosted the Ireland-Romania match on September 9.
“The Ministry alerted, through a European network and a global network maintained by the WHO, all countries […] to be able to notify all their nationals that they have returned,” Benoît Elleboode finally indicated, highlighting an “extremely effective” alert system.
Source: BFM TV
