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A diffuse lower motor neurone paralysis developed in a 6-month-old male Australian cattle dog pup 4 days after it had eaten the carcase of a rotting duck in Centennial Park, Sydney. Two other dogs which ate smaller portions of the same carcase were less severely affected. Clostridium botulinum type C was isolated from and C. botulinum type C toxin was detected in faeces from the severely affected dog. The serum contained 25 LD50 of toxin/ml. The high C. botulinum count and toxin level in the faeces declined progressively during the ensuing weeks, but 114 days after ingesting the carcase C. botulinum type C was still present in faeces and a low toxin titre persisted. Soil, mud and water samples in the area of the duck ponds in the park contained C. botulinum type C spores. Spores and high toxin titres were also found in the intestine of the carcases of 2 birds in the area.

The isolation of Clostridium botulinum from the home environment of New South Wales patients with infant botulism is reported. Of the three cases of infant botulism type B, the bacteria were isolated from soil around the dwelling in one, and from tank rainwater in another. In one case with type A, the bacteria were present in the soil, vacuum-cleaner dust, and tank rainwater. The bacteria were not detected in the environment of two adult patients and a child with C. botulinum in their stools. The home location of the patients with infant botulism, and the frequency of isolation of the bacteria from rainwater, soil and vacuum-cleaner dust in Cobar, Nyngan, some Sydney suburbs, and at five pastoral homesteads suggest that infants in rural areas are more at risk than those in large metropolitan areas. The age of the infants with diagnosed botulism in New South Wales, compared with those reported in the United States data, strongly suggests that the disease is not being fully recognised in younger infants.