Botulism Probe Suspects Rise to Nine

Calabria: The number of suspects in a probe into deadly botulism infections from sausage sandwiches bought at a food truck in Calabria last week has now risen to nine including five doctors, sources said at the weekend.

According to Ansa News Agency, a 52-year-old man and a 45-year-old woman died after eating the sausage and turnip top panini at Diamante near Cosenza. Another 14 people are in hospital with food poisoning.

Those probed are the food seller, three company staff who produced the botulism-tainted sandwiches, and five doctors from two health facilities that treated the two victims before they died. Prosecutors have ordered the nationwide seizure of the sandwich made from sausage and turnip tops, a vegetable similar to broccoli.

The health ministry said Friday that it had reacted to the deadly outbreak of botulism in Calabria, and another case in Sardinia, with the speedy activation of a protocol for such situations. A 38-year-old woman who was among eight people to suffer symptoms of severe food
poisoning after eating guacamole sauce at a festival last month died in hospital in Cagliari on Friday.