A surge of poisonings linked to accidental picking and consumption of wild mushrooms now includes 50 identified cases, a figure that far surpasses California’s last major outbreak a decade ago.
The state continues to see an unprecedented uptick in poisonings and deaths associated with death cap, or Amanita phalloides; and western destroying angel, Amanita ocreata, mushrooms, according to the California Department of Public Health.
Officials said death caps in particular have been the culprit behind a majority of cases, but there are no data on precisely how many are associated with each particular wild mushroom.
But they say an exceptionally wet winter and then April rains have contributed to the rash of poisonings. In all, 50 have been reported since November. Of those cases, four people died and four required liver transplants.
In a typical year, the California Poison Control System may receive up to five reported illnesses linked to poisonous mushrooms, according to authorities.
During the state’s last major spate of poisonings in 2016, 14 cases were reported.
Officials said cases over the last seven months have been concentrated in Northern California and the Central Coast, including counties where these mushrooms have historically been uncommon. Mushroom-related poisonings have been reported in Alameda, Humboldt, Marin, Monterey, Napa, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Mateo and Sonoma counties.
In mid-May, public health officials in Napa County said three people had been hospitalized after eating poisonous wild mushrooms foraged in the Deer Park community.
State health officials said they’re strongly urging Californians not to pick or eat wild mushrooms during “this time of heightened risk.”
When the last major outbreak occurred in 2016 there were no deaths. However, three people required liver transplants and one child suffered “permanent neurologic impairment,” according to a report published in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
The death cap is the world’s most poisonous mushroom, responsible for 90% of mushroom-related fatalities. The three deadliest mushrooms in California are the death cap, the western destroying angel and the deadly galerina (Galerina marginata), according to the Bay Area Mycological Society.
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