Luigi Di Sarno, a 52-year-old Italian musician, died after eating a broccoli and sausage sandwich from a street food vendor in Diamante, Calabria, according to a report by The Mirror. The sandwich was suspected to have been contaminated with a deadly toxin. Nine others who consumed the same food were hospitalised with suspected botulism. The outbreak has led to a mass recall of broccoli in Italy.
As per the report, Sarno collapsed after eating the sandwich. He, along with other victims, including two teenagers and members of Sarno's family, were rushed to the nearby Annunziata Hospital.
In a Facebook post, Achille Ordine, the mayor of Diamante, urged the public not to panic or circulate rumors, adding that the Public Prosecutor's Office of Paola is probing the incident.
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Here's what the health department says
As quoted in the report, the Calabria Region's Department of Health and Welfare said: "The emergency procedure established in these cases has been activated, which requires immediate notification to the Poison Control Center in Pavia, the only national centre designated for the management of botulism.
"No region or hospital in the country is authorised to store the antivenom in their own facilities. This serum, however, is exclusively available to the Ministry of Health, which holds it in designated secure locations and distributes it only through the Lombardy Poison Control Centre.
"The first two vials, used for the first patients, were sent directly from the Military Pharmacy in Taranto. However, as the number of cases increased, additional supplies became necessary.
"Yesterday, the Calabria Region, through Azienda Zero, provided a 118 aircraft that flew to the San Camillo Hospital in Rome, where the ministry had centralised additional vials of the antivenom to facilitate distribution."
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What is botulism?
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed that botulism is caused by the toxin clostridium botulinum.
Botulism symptoms include breathing difficulties, muscle paralysis, blurred vision, and even death in rare cases.
"Foodborne botulism can happen by eating foods that have been contaminated with botulinum toxin," the CDC states.
"Common sources of foodborne botulism are homemade foods that have been improperly canned, preserved or fermented. Though uncommon, store-bought foods also can be contaminated with botulinum toxin."
