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Health district warns of signs for food borne illnesses

The Greene County Combined Health District is warning of signs for food borne illnesses amid a deadly outbreak of botulism in Ohio.

The Ohio Department of Health said one person died and 22 are being monitored for botulism after an outbreak that is being linked to a potluck dinner at a Columbus-area church. The illness comes from canned foods that weren’t processed or cooked properly, and can sometimes be found in cans in stores.

Amy Schmitt, public health nurse with the Greene County Combined Health District, said there are some practices people can follow to stay safe.

“Preparing food properly, keeping it cold and refrigerated at the proper temperatures, keeping hot foods hot at the proper temperatures, those are all things that are really important when we’re going to picnics, and as the weather gets warmer we don’t want things to sit in the heat,” Schmitt said.

In 2012, there was a deadly E. coli outbreak in the Miami Valley when one person died and over 70 others became ill after eating at a picnic in Germantown.

The picnic’s host provided some of the food, but people attending also brought food, officials said. The origin of the outbreak was never determined.

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