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How many people remember this event that happened 29 years ago...in Peoria...
The hospitals and intensive care units were filled with more than two dozen paralyzed patients who were stricken with botulism that was acquired while eating at a local restaurant...
The CDC article details 28 proven cases, but at least another 20 milder cases were suspected in people who declined testing because they were actively supporting their family members who were quite ill.
There was ultimately one death in this group of patients - and because of the number who remained paralyzed for weeks & even months - and some had permanent paralysis - this may well have been the worst botulism outbreak ever. Both of the two outbreaks with a greater number of cases, were actually milder.
It was never really revealed widely but a very bad mistake was made by some who were in charge.....after it was known that the Skewer Inn was the source of the outbreak - the local Peoria County Health Department seized what they suspected was the causative food - then allowed the restaurant to reopen.....BUT....many more people fell ill AFTER the restaurant reopened - proving the Health Department made a terrible mistake in letting the place reopen and serve even more of the contaminated food.
The fact was that they did not seize anything from the restaurant's freezers - because up until that time - botulism had never, ever been known to occur from food which had been frozen....so the Health Department made a bad blunder letting many more people contract the disease by NOT closing the restaurant until ALL the food was cleaned out.
The hospitals and intensive care units were filled with more than two dozen paralyzed patients who were stricken with botulism that was acquired while eating at a local restaurant...
The CDC article details 28 proven cases, but at least another 20 milder cases were suspected in people who declined testing because they were actively supporting their family members who were quite ill.
There was ultimately one death in this group of patients - and because of the number who remained paralyzed for weeks & even months - and some had permanent paralysis - this may well have been the worst botulism outbreak ever. Both of the two outbreaks with a greater number of cases, were actually milder.
It was never really revealed widely but a very bad mistake was made by some who were in charge.....after it was known that the Skewer Inn was the source of the outbreak - the local Peoria County Health Department seized what they suspected was the causative food - then allowed the restaurant to reopen.....BUT....many more people fell ill AFTER the restaurant reopened - proving the Health Department made a terrible mistake in letting the place reopen and serve even more of the contaminated food.
The fact was that they did not seize anything from the restaurant's freezers - because up until that time - botulism had never, ever been known to occur from food which had been frozen....so the Health Department made a bad blunder letting many more people contract the disease by NOT closing the restaurant until ALL the food was cleaned out.
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