One person has died and two other cases of foodborne botulism have been reported in an Argentinian province.
The Ministry of Health of La Pampa said the trio had food together in the region of Toay. One woman died and two people have been hospitalized.
An urgent health alert was issued to tell people not to consume certain products from the Juli-Mar brand that do not have the relevant official registration. It has not yet been confirmed which food product was contaminated.
An investigation by prosecutors led to the closure of the site where contaminated products are thought to have been produced.
Testing has confirmed the presence of botulinum toxin in food and samples from one of the patients.
Botulinum poisoning is a rare but life-threatening condition caused by toxins produced by Clostridium botulinum bacteria. In foodborne botulism, symptoms generally begin 18 to 36 hours after eating contaminated food. At first, severe fatigue, weakness, and dizziness may occur. Later, vision becomes blurred as well as a dry mouth, difficulty swallowing and speaking. It can cause sudden death because of its ability to paralyze muscles used for breathing.
In November, health officials in Mendoza reported two cases of foodborne botulism involving a father and daughter. They also recorded a suspected case of botulism in July in a 10-year-old patient living in San Carlos.
Earlier this year, a three-month-old baby girl was diagnosed with infant botulism in Salta. She was hospitalized and, at the time, her condition was described as stable.
She began experiencing symptoms in mid-August in her hometown. It was the second case of infant botulism in the province in 2025.
