For something that women cheerfully inject into their foreheads every day, botulism neurotoxin (BT) sure is scary.
BT is the handiwork of the common soil bacteria Clostridium botulinum. The bacteria can be spread through food contaminated with the bacteria or its spores, or through an open wound.
Once in the body, the bacteria start
producing the toxin and things get messy. Within a day or two,
neurological symptoms appear, including slurred speech, blurred vision
and trouble breathing. Muscles get weaker, reflexes stop working, limbs
get paralyzed.
Eventually, the diaphragm and other
breathing muscles stop working, causing death. Antitoxin and antibiotics
can halt the disease's progress, if administered in time, but it can
take months to fully recover from the paralysis.
Source; http://science.discovery.com/life-earth-science/10-infectious-diseases.htm
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