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Woman in intensive care after eating cheese at gas station

A Sacramento-area women is one of five people who contracted botulism, apparently after eating cheese from a California gas station.

According to a story from the Sacramento Bee, Lavinia Kelly put nacho cheese sauce on some Dorito's chips she was eating and became seriously ill within hours.

By the next day, Kelly was at the hospital in intensive care.

The Sacramento Bee reported that Kelly has been in the hospital for nearly a month. She has trouble breathing and cannot keep her eyelids open.

All of the five people diagnosed with botulism have been hospitalized, the story said. The outbreak has been linked to a service station in Walnut Grove, a suburb of Sacramento.

Botulism – a rare paralytic illness caused by a nerve toxin – is considered a medical emergency. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, symptoms include:

  • double vision,
  • blurred vision,
  • drooping eyelids,
  • slurred speech,
  • difficulty swallowing,
  • dry mouth, and
  • muscle weakness

For the full story, see the Sacramento Bee