One woman is dead and 23 others are sick with suspected Botulism symptoms following a potluck dinner at an Ohio church, health officials announced on Wednesday.
Fifty to 60 people went to Cross Pointe Free Will Baptist Church in Lancaster, Ohio for the Sunday potluck lunch, said Jennifer Valentine, a spokeswoman for the Fairfield Department of Health, according to Reuters.
"We have spent a lot of time last night trying to contact people and see who was at the event to make sure they sought medical treatment if they had symptoms," Valentine said.
People began showing symptoms and getting sick on Tuesday, Valentine added. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stepped in overnight and gave hospitals in Lancaster and Columbus botulism antitoxin to treat the patients.
Symptoms of botulism include double or blurred vision, drooping eyelids, slurred speech and difficulty swallowing.
It is still yet to be confirmed if botulism is the cause of all this. Health officials are also still trying to trace the potential botulism back to a particular food item from the potluck.
Botulism, a paralytic illness, usually results from improperly canned foods.
