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Clostridium botulinum causes the disease called botulism by producing most potent toxins known to mankind.But one of the most fascinating aspects of anaerobic spore-former Gram positive bacillus is treatment of neurological disorders.It has become the first biological toxin which is licensed as drug for treatment of human diseases.
Extreme potency and lethality of botulinmum, its considered a biological weapon. A single gram of crystalline toxin, evenly dispersed and inhaled, would kill more than 1 million people, although technical factors would make such dissemination difficult.
An aerosolized or foodborne botulinum toxin weapon would cause acute symmetric, descending flaccid paralysis with prominent bulbar plasies such as diplopia, dysarthria, dysphonia, and dysphagia that would typically present 12 to 72 hours after exposure.
Because it's the main cause for botulism which is extremely a very dangerous disease caused by clostrodium itself who produce toxins into the human body that can cause paralysis.
The botulinum toxin can cause a severe flaccid paralytic disease in humans and other animals[2] and is the most potent toxin known to mankind, natural or synthetic, with a lethal dose of 1.3–2.1 ng/kg in humans.
Botulinum toxin, one of the most toxic poisons known, is derived from the spore-forming bacteria Clostridium botulinum.
It is listed as "the most toxic substance known."
2 It is estimated that a single gram of pure crystalline toxin, evenly dispersed and inhaled, could kill as many as one million people.
3 However, such a dissemination would be technically unfeasible, since an effective mechanism for producing a large aerosol of botulinum has not been successfully developed.
Botulinum toxin can be absorbed through the gastrointestinal or respiratory tracts; however, it is not absorbed by intact skin. The estimated lethal dose for a 91-kg (200-pound) person is 0.9–1.2 micrograms per kilogram by inhalation, and approximately 90 micrograms per kilogram by oral ingestion.4 Symptoms of botulinum toxin poisoning can occur within as little as two hours of exposure, or as late as eight days after.
the toxin produced by Clostridium Botulinum is a very rare one that causes mainly paralysis and most of the world wide population is not vaccinated and protected against it . a very small quantity can kill a large number of people . that why its considered as a biological weapon
because it is poisining cells as takes oxygen from them
