Abstract

An epidemic of botulism in gulls was reported in 1989 near a waste disposal site at Stewartby in Bedfordshire, England. Subsequently, it was demonstrated that all samples taken from the leachate treatment plain of the waste disposal site were contaminated with botulinum toxin, whereas control samples from the Stewartby lake edge, where gulls were seen dying, were negative. A causal relationship between botulism in the gulls and the waste disposal site was indicated. It is suggested that the organically enriched, anaerobic mud flats from which the toxins were isolated require ploughing in order to manage and reduce the risk of toxaemia arising from such sources.