A man has died and nine other people have been hospitalised in Italy after they ate a sandwich which contained ‘contaminated’ broccoli, with a mass recall now underway. Artist and musician Luigi Di Sarno, 52, collapsed and couldn’t be saved after buying a broccoli and sausage sandwich from food truck on the Diamante seafront in the province of Cosenza.
The other victims, said to include two teenagers, were all taken to the intensive care unit of Annunziata Hospital in the town. Those needing treatment are understood to include members of tragic Mr Di Sarno’s family, with two of the patients reportedly still in a very serious condition.
It comes amid a growing botulism outbreak caused by the toxins produced by Clostridium botulinum bacteria, Mirror UK reports. There are as-yet unconfirmed reports that a 38-year-old woman has died after she ate a taco with guacamole at a kiosk at the festival in the Cagliari. The country is on high alert after the Paola Public Prosecutor’s Office demanding an ‘immediate seizure of a commercial product’.
Calabria Region’s Department of Health and Welfare said: “The emergency procedure established in these cases has been activated, which requires immediate notification to the Poison Control Center in Pavia, the only national centre designated for the management of botulism.
“No region or hospital in the country is authorised to store the antivenom in their own facilities. This serum, however, is exclusively available to the Ministry of Health, which holds it in designated secure locations and distributes it only through the Lombardy Poison Control Centre.
“The first two vials, used for the first patients, were sent directly from the Military Pharmacy in Taranto. However, as the number of cases increased, additional supplies became necessary.
“Yesterday, the Calabria Region, through Azienda Zero, provided a 118 aircraft that flew to the San Camillo Hospital in Rome, where the ministry had centralised additional vials of the antivenom to facilitate distribution.”
A friend of Mr Di Sarno paid tribute to him on social media. They wrote: “The world loses once again a beautiful person, leaving a void in all those who truly cared for him. We had rare encounters in recent times but mutual respect never waned, we had a beer pending and many stories to share. It will be for another world, rest in peace!”
The infected broccoli comes days after eight people are said to have fell ill with botulism after eating infected guacamole at a festival in Sardinia late last month. A boy, 11, remains in intensive care at the Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome after being rushed by helicopter from Cagliari.
The mayor of Diamante, Achille Ordine, asks not to ‘create panic’ following the outbreak as the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Paola investigating. The ASP of Cosenza has placed a health block on the activity ‘as a precautionary measure’.
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