A woman has died and 12 people have been hospitalised after an outbreak of botulism in sardines served at a restaurant in south-western France.
Botulism is a serious neurological illness typically brought on by eating food that has been improperly preserved.
The restaurant in Bordeaux had preserved the sardines itself, the DGS health authority said.
The nationality of the dead woman, aged 32, had not yet been determined, a source close to the case said.
A doctor at Pellegrin hospital in Bordeaux, Benjamin Clouzeau, said a further 12 people were still receiving emergency treatment on Wednesday morning.
They all ate sardines that had been stored by the restaurant owner in jars, the DGS said.
Botulism is deadly in 5-10% of cases because of a toxin generated by Clostridium botulinum bacteria, which can appear when preserved food is insufficiently sterilised. »
