Story highlights The cheese sauce has been seized by California Department of Public Health officials

Gas station near Sacramento has been allowed to reopen to sell prepackaged foods

(CNN) Ten people have been hospitalized after they contracted botulism from eating nacho cheese sauce served at a gas station outside of Sacramento, California, according to state and local officials.

The Sacramento County Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement last week that the cause of the illness "appears to be prepared food, particularly nacho cheese sauce" from a gas station in Walnut Grove.

Botulism is a rare illness caused by nerve toxins released from bacteria, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Symptoms can include blurred vision, drooping eyelids, slurred speech and paralysis, among others. Some cases can be fatal.

CNN affiliate KTXL reports that one woman, Lavinia Kelly, was reportedly hospitalized after putting the nacho cheese sauce on some Doritos chips on April 21.

"My phone rings and I pick up the phone and it's her, and she can't articulate a word," her sister, Theresa Kelly, told KTXL . She said that at first she thought her sister was going to die.

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