One Dead in Botulism Outbreak Traced to Sardines at Bar in France
A woman has died and at least a dozen other people have become ill with botulism in France after eating homemade sardine preserves at a wine bar in the southwestern city of Bordeaux, French officials said on Wednesday, as they warned that other cases could soon come to light.
The sick people had all eaten over the course of last week at the Tchin Tchin Wine Bar, an organic wine bar in central Bordeaux that is popular with foreign tourists, according to French health authorities.
One woman who lives in the Paris region died after returning home and checking into a hospital, doctors said on Wednesday. Her partner was also hospitalized. Eight of the other victims are still at a hospital in Bordeaux. Most of them are in intensive care and receiving respiratory assistance.
Although test results are pending, French health authorities said they were confident that botulism, an extremely rare but potentially life-threatening illness, was the cause, and they blamed the wine bar’s homemade, oil-based sardine preserves.
