In the spring and summer of 1981, an epidemic of a new illness now referred to as the toxic oil syndrome occurred in central and northwestern Spain, resulting in some 20,000 cases, 12,000 hospital admissions and greater than 300 deaths in the 1st year of the epidemic. The initial onset of illness
Toxic oil syndrome is a multisystemic, epidemic disease that appeared in Spain in 1981, related to the intake of rapeseed cooking oil sold in bulk. It affected 19,748 people, of whom 457 died. The toxic substance was never identified. We report the 8-year follow-up of a cohort of 332 patients. The