Leclair Daniel, Farber Jeffrey M, Pagotto Franco, Suppa Sandy, Doidge Bill, Austin John W
a Bureau of Microbial Hazards , Health Products and Food Branch, Health Canada , Ottawa , Canada.
b Nunavik Research Centre , Makivik Corporation , Kuujjuaq , Canada.
Int J Circumpolar Health. 2017;76(1):1380994. doi: 10.1080/22423982.2017.1380994.
Botulism in Nunavik, Quebec is associated with the consumption of aged marine mammal meat and fat. The objective was to identify meat handling practices presenting a risk of contamination of seal meat with C. botulinum. Potential sources of contamination were assessed through interviews with igunaq producers from five communities of Nunavik. These sources were verified by detection and isolation of C. botulinum from igunaq prepared in the field from seal carcasses. Interviews indicated practices presenting a risk for contamination included: placing meat or fat on coastal rocks, using seawater for rinsing, and ageing meat in inverted seal skin pouches. Although the presence of C. botulinum type E spores was detected in only two of 32 (6.3%) meat or fat samples collected during the butchering process, two of four igunaq preparations from these samples contained type E botulinum toxin. Analysis of C. botulinum type E isolates recovered from these preparations indicated that shoreline soil may be a source of contamination. Seal meat and fat may be contaminated with C. botulinum type E during the butchering process. Measures can be adopted to reduce the risks of contamination in the field and possibly decrease the incidence of type E botulism in Nunavik.
魁北克努纳维克地区的肉毒中毒与食用陈年海洋哺乳动物肉及脂肪有关。目的是确定存在海豹肉被肉毒梭菌污染风险的肉类处理方法。通过与来自努纳维克五个社区的伊古纳克（igunaq）生产者进行访谈，评估了潜在的污染源。这些污染源通过从海豹尸体现场制备的伊古纳克中检测和分离肉毒梭菌来验证。访谈表明存在污染风险的做法包括：将肉或脂肪放在沿海岩石上、用海水冲洗以及在倒置的海豹皮袋中陈化肉。虽然在屠宰过程中收集的32份肉或脂肪样本中只有两份（6.3%）检测到E型肉毒梭菌孢子，但这些样本中的四份伊古纳克制品中有两份含有E型肉毒毒素。对从这些制品中分离出的E型肉毒梭菌进行分析表明，海岸线土壤可能是污染源。海豹肉和脂肪在屠宰过程中可能被E型肉毒梭菌污染。可以采取措施降低现场污染风险，并可能降低努纳维克地区E型肉毒中毒的发病率。
