California Probing Baby Botulism Cases Prior to Current Outbreak

The California Department of Public Health is investigating six additional cases of botulism in the state in infants who were given ByHeart formula before the start of the current outbreak in August, a department spokesperson told Bloomberg.

Those babies became ill between November 2024 and June 2025, said Brian Micek, a CDPH spokesperson. The department hasn’t linked the cases to the babies’ consumption of ByHeart.

ByHeart recalled two batches of its formula Nov. 8 and expanded the recall Nov. 11 to all of its product. As of Nov. 19, US health officials had linked 31 cases of confirmed or suspected ...