1. Introduction
Clostridium botulinum is a strictly anaerobic, Grampositive,
rod-shaped bacterium, which is able to form endospores
that are highly resistant to harsh environmental conditions
[1,2]. The bacterium produces the most potent biological
toxin known to man, the botulinum neurotoxin. C. botulinum
strains are divided into four groups (denoted IeIV) according
to their physiological characteristics, and into eight toxin types
(denoted A-H) according to the antigenic properties of the
specific botulinum neurotoxins produced [1,3e5]. The strains