A 16-week-old baby boy is fighting for his life in Edinburgh's Sick Kids Hospital after being diagnosed with botulism, it was disclosed today.
Logan Douglas was admitted to hospital in the Capital where doctors spotted signs of the rare disease and ordered a test.
Health protection experts said there had not been a report of an infant with botulism in Scotland since 1983.
Logan has be
en left paralysed after contracting the disease, according to reports.
His condition at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh is described as critical but stable today, a spokeswoman for NHS Lothian said.
In a statement released by NHS Lothian, his mother Theresa Fitzpatrick, from Dunfermline, Fife, said: "We are pleased that he's in the best place to get the treatment he needs and hope he will be fit and strong again as soon as possible."
His father Alex Douglas, said: "He's our bonnie lad and we are looking forward to getting him back home soon and seeing him smiling again."
Logan was admitted to the hospital on 19 September.
It is not known how the toddler caught the disease.
Botulism is caused by botulinum toxin, a poison produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum.
A spokeswoman for Health Protection Scotland said: "Based on our electronic records, which go back to 1983, we have not seen a laboratory report of an infant botulism case.
"There have been no cases of botulism in Scotland in the last year."
According to the Health Protection Agency (HPA), which covers England and Wales, there were two reported cases of infant botulism in 2007 and one case in 2008. There were also six laboratory reported cases of infant botulism between 1975 and 2006.
Information on the HPA's website states: "There are three main types of botulism – foodborne botulism, intestinal botulism (which is due to proliferation of the organism in the gut) and wound botulism.
"Symptoms often begin with blurred vision and difficulty in swallowing and speaking, but diarrhoea and vomiting can also occur. The disease can progress to paralysis. Most cases will recover, but the recovery period can be many months.
"The disease can be fatal in 5 per cent to 10 per cent of cases; death is due to respiratory failure."
