A 37-year-old father of two has been the first to die in a botulism outbreak linked to nacho cheese sold at a gas station in Walnut Grove.
The outbreak, which killed Martin Galindo-Larious Jr., has also hospitalized at least 9 others, leaving one victim paralyzed.
His older brother Mario Galindo told KTVU that Martin stopped at the gas station last month while commuting to a job site in Sacramento:
"That gas station was pretty much the midpoint between here and there. So I kind of figure he’d stop by, get a few snacks on the way back and forth, coffee, something to drink.”
State health officials tested the nacho cheese and confirmed the botulism toxin was lurking in it.
Botulism poisoning can cause paralysis, difficulty breathing, and even death.
Bill Marler, an attorney representing 6 of the victims, said:
“That’s the scary thing about botulism — it’s odorless and tasteless. The most likely thing is that it happened in some error at the assembly line at the cheese manufacturer.”
The manufacturer of the cheese said in a statement that its facilities are safe, and the company is working with investigators to figure out what caused the outbreak.