Household Biowaste Containers (Bio-Bins) – Potential Incubators For Clostridium Botulinum and Botulinum Neurotoxins

In previously conducted research, Clostridium botulinum spores were found in bio-waste compost. Household bio-waste, collected in `bio-bins', was suspected to be one of the reasons for contamination. Maggots of Calliphoridae were collectedinside and outside of bio-bins from 8 different locations in central Germany and examined for C. botulinum toxin and/orbacterial forms using standard mouse bioassay. Young maggots (instar 1) contained neither C. botulinum nor toxin, but these were found in instar 2 and 3 larvae. For the first time these results show that fly larvae out of bio-bins are not onlya nuisance, but may be vectors of the potentially lethal C.botulinum.