For the first time in more than 40 years, scientists have found a new variety of botulinum toxin, but they aren't sharing the details with the public. Botulinum toxin can cause botulism and is one of the most poisonous substances on the planet. For the first time in more than 40 years, scientists have found a new variety of botulinum toxin, but they aren't sharing the details with the public. Botulinum toxin can cause botulism and is one of the most poisonous substances on the planet. There is reportedly no treatment available for this new variety of toxin, so in order to stop someone from using the genetic sequencing to recreate it, scientists from the California Department of Public Health have intentionally published incomplete information on the toxin for security purposes. Although details about biological discoveries are usually shared for publication in scientific journals, the new toxin is an exception. David Hooper, an editor at the The Journal of Infectious Diseases where the report was published, and an infectious disease expert from Massachusetts General Hospital is quoted as saying: "This is not the usual process for publishing manuscripts. We thought in this case an exception was appropriate." Botulism can cause fatal paralytic sickness, but in the United States it usually is only found in infants, who haven't developed the digestion microbes that prevent the growth of the toxic bacteria.

• published: 11 Oct 2013
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