Food poisoning with neurotoxicity caused by eating food contaminated with Clostridium botulinum. From the Latin botulus, “sausage,” the disease was first recognized in Germany in persons who had eaten tainted sausage and was originally called “sausage poisoning.”

Sources: Dorland’s illustrated medical dictionary. 30th ed. Philadelphia: Saunders; 2003 and Botulism in Alaska [monograph on the Internet]. [cited 2005 Aug 26]. Available from http://www.epi.hss.state.ak.us/pubs/botulism/bot_03.htm