Sunday, January 7, 2018

Wild meat and botulism - update.

As I suggested in the original post, the tests on food and other samples have now shown that the poisoning of the family in New Zealand, apparently caused by Clostridium botulinum, was not caused by botulin toxin. However, no other explanation for the families symptoms is forthcoming. Conspiracy theorists are suggesting the boar had consumed 1080 poison (used for possum control) but there is no evidence for this. Many other toxins could be involved - fungal or plant toxins, or even toxins in spices brought from India by a relative of the family. Chances are we will never discover the cause in this case. However, reading the increasingly confusing reports around the case does raise concerns that more extensive testing was not conducted at the time.

A further possible explanation might be provided by a Massey University PhD student's work.  Hayley Hunt of the Institute of Veterinary, Animal and Biomedical Sciences is investigating a rare disease in hunting dogs called Go Slow. The disease affects the dogs’ ability to walk by altering the mitochondria (energy-producing structures within cells), so that their muscles are no longer able to contract.  She says the likely cause of the disease is dogs eating wild pig meat that has been poisoned when the pig eats particular plants. The identity of the plant and toxin that may be tainting the pig meat is currently unknown and may be difficult to define, as there are so many possibilities.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It would have been easy to have eliminated 1080 right from the beginning by appropriate testing of both the victims and the uneaten portion of their meal.
The fact that the urine taken was not tested until 18 days later and the meal was still there 3 weeks later looking still 'fresh' whilst all the other food was decayed suggests either total incompetency or deliberate subterfuge.
Take your pick.
Either way the fact that 1080 was repeatedly mentioned on the hospital assessments that a neurotoxin was involved makes either inexcusable.
The fact that the hunter has never been interviewed by the police also suggests that some authorities are wielding an unhealthy influence on what should be an independent body guarding against illegal activities that risk the health and safety of the public.
Sounds all a bit crook to me!

Unknown said...

Hi . I am extremely curious about the circumstances behind the cause of illness with the Indian family. What happened to the meat that was stored in their freezer ? . Why did authorities not do more extensive tests once they had ruled out botulism ? . And the link to goslow is interesting. I find it hard to believe that plants of any sort are involved, for the simple reason that goslow is a modern phenomenon and unless we have a new species of plant ? It doesn't add up :(

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