The portal of exit of Clostridium botulinum is feces.

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Multiple Choice

The portal of exit of Clostridium botulinum is feces.

Portals of exit describe how a pathogen leaves a host to spread to others. For Clostridium botulinum, illness is not spread person-to-person. It typically arises from toxin that is ingested in contaminated food or produced in a wound (and in infants from gut colonization). The exit path for this organism’s transmission is through contaminated food or wound environments, not through feces in the usual course of disease. While spores or toxin may be present in stool in some circumstances, that does not constitute a typical portal of exit for spreading botulism. Therefore, saying the portal of exit is feces is not correct.

Portals of exit describe how a pathogen leaves a host to spread to others. For Clostridium botulinum, illness is not spread person-to-person. It typically arises from toxin that is ingested in contaminated food or produced in a wound (and in infants from gut colonization). The exit path for this organism’s transmission is through contaminated food or wound environments, not through feces in the usual course of disease. While spores or toxin may be present in stool in some circumstances, that does not constitute a typical portal of exit for spreading botulism. Therefore, saying the portal of exit is feces is not correct.

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