Following reports of two botulism outbreaks in one month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has compiled some tips on home canning, which is the most common source of food-borne botulism.

Two people have been hospitalized in Texas, after getting sickened with botulism. In Ohio, around 21 people who ate at a church potluck have got sickened and one of them has died.

Botulism is caused due to a nerve toxin which is produced by the bacteria Clostridium botulinum, found in soil and dust.

The symptoms of Botulism include double vision, blurred vision, drooping eyelids, slurred speech, difficulty swallowing, dry mouth, muscle weakness, descending paralysis, difficulty breathing and shortness of breath. It leads to death when the muscles controlling breathing gets paralyzed.

Between the years 1996 to 2008, CDC received 116 food-borne botulism outbreaks reports. Out of them, 18 were caused due to the improperly home-canned vegetables.

According to the local and state health officials potato salad made with home-canned potatoes should be blamed for the over 20 cases of botulism in Lancaster, Ohio, last week. All of those who got sick ate at a potluck dinner at Cross Pointe Free Will Baptist Church on April 19.

Health officials tested the leftover food samples obtained from the trash. They interviewed the ill patients in order to determine what common food all of them ate.

According to Ohio Department of Health spokesperson Shannon Libby, as of Tuesday, there were 21 confirmed cases of botulism and 10 more suspected cases. These cases include the death of a 54-year-old woman.

The ill patients were given proper treatment at area hospitals with an antitoxin from the Strategic National Stockpile, which was provided by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

According to the CDC, food-borne outbreaks of botulism happen almost every year, and are generally caused by home-canned foods.

Local health officials have urged all to use a pressure canner or cooker while canning foods at home because the pressure kills the germ causing botulism.