A deadly botulism outbreak in Italy has claimed two lives and hospitalized 14 others after victims consumed contaminated sandwiches from a street vendor in the coastal town of Diamante, located in Calabria.
The first victim, Luigi Di Santo, a 52-year-old artist and musician from Cercola near Naples, died after eating a sausage and turnip top sandwich from a food truck. The second fatality was Tamara D’Acunto, 45, from Diamante, who died on Wednesday, August 6. Her funeral took place the following day.
Di Santo had been returning from a family holiday in Calabria when he stopped at the seafront food truck in Diamante on Thursday. After consuming the sandwich, he began driving toward Naples but fell ill while on the highway near Lagonegro in Potenza and was forced to pull over in Basilicata. Emergency services responded to the scene, but Di Santo died before reaching the hospital.
Fourteen people have been hospitalized with food poisoning after eating from the same vendor, with five patients currently in intensive care at Annunziata Hospital in Cosenza. The hospitalized victims include two teenagers and multiple family members of the deceased.
Italian health authorities confirmed botulism was detected in samples taken from patients arriving at the hospital. The Italian National Institute of Health determined that several foods found in the truck were contaminated with the toxin.
The sandwiches contained grilled sausages and an Italian summer vegetable called cime di rapa, or turnip tops, which is similar to broccoli. Officials had ordered the immediate seizure of a commercial product believed to be broccoli preserved in oil.
The Paola Public Prosecutor’s Office has launched an investigation into the outbreak. Ten people are under investigation, including the street vendor, multiple doctors who treated Di Santo and D’Acunto before their deaths, and managers of companies that manufactured the suspected contaminated products.
A prosecutor working on the case indicated they assumed the food truck owner had used only one kitchen tool to handle the food, adding that “Otherwise it’s inexplicable.”
Francesco Liserre, the lawyer representing the street vendor, maintained that products sold from the food truck were stored in refrigeration and opened when needed. Liserre indicated his client was devastated and convinced the contamination was already present in the products when purchased.
Prosecutors have ordered a nationwide seizure of the products suspected of causing the food poisoning. The vendor’s food truck has been seized as part of the investigation, and autopsy results for the victims have not yet been released.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, botulism is caused by the toxin clostridium botulinum, which attacks the body’s nervous system. The condition causes difficulty breathing, muscle paralysis and can result in death in severe cases. Foodborne botulism typically occurs when people consume foods contaminated with botulinum toxin, commonly from improperly canned, preserved or fermented foods.
The Italian Ministry of Health activated emergency protocols following the outbreak, coordinating with military aircraft to transport antitoxin serum to affected hospitals. The antidote is not routinely stocked in all medical facilities, requiring emergency distribution from designated secure locations managed by the ministry.
This outbreak follows another recent botulism incident in Italy. Approximately two weeks earlier, a 38-year-old woman died after consuming guacamole at a festival in Cagliari, located on the Italian island of Sardinia. An 11-year-old boy was also hospitalized and flown to Rome for treatment after eating the same contaminated guacamole.
The Calabria Region’s Department of Health and Welfare emphasized that emergency procedures require immediate notification to the Poison Control Centre in Pavia, the only national center designated for botulism management. The department noted that no region or hospital in the country is authorized to store the antivenom in their own facilities.
Italian health officials continue to investigate the source of contamination while managing multiple botulism cases across different regions. The incidents have prompted increased scrutiny of food safety protocols, particularly for street vendors and preserved food products sold in high-temperature environments.
