California state health authorities are warning people to stop foraging wild mushrooms as the death toll from a poisoning outbreak increased to four and as more than three dozen people have been sickened since November.
Typically, there are five or fewer mushroom poisoning cases in California each year, according to the state’s public health department.
In the most recent outbreak, people between 19 months and 67 years old have been sickened after eating death cap mushrooms, which can resemble mushrooms found in grocery stores.
The department said the outbreak had mostly affected people who do not speak English as their primary language.
Of those poisoned, 60 percent spoke Spanish as their primary language. The outbreak has also affected people who speak English, Mandarin Chinese, Mixteco, Russian and Ukrainian.
The department has made fliers warning about the dangers of the mushrooms in several languages and is asking people to post them in community spaces, such as stores and libraries.
Those who are accustomed to foraging in their home countries may mistake poisonous mushrooms in California for ones that are safe where they are from, the department said.
Officials have been discouraging residents from foraging for wild mushrooms since the outbreak began.
Bruch Reed, chief operating officer of the North American Mycological Association, a nonprofit that represents professional and amateur mushroom experts, said the poisonings were “terrible and insidious.”
He said he wanted to support California’s public health department, but he did not think the solution to the outbreak was discouraging foraging altogether, especially in a state that is abundant with safe wild mushrooms.
Instead, he said, he would like to see an expanded effort by the state to educate people about mushrooms. This is important because of the “shroom boom” that happened during the pandemic, as more people took up mushroom hunting.
He noted that the outbreak is happening at a time when immigrant communities are under threat, and food insecurity is high.
“They are hunting for what, in their home countries, are delicious, nutritious, traditional foods that are safe,” he said.
From Nov. 18 to Jan. 18, there have been 39 cases of poisoning from eating death cap mushrooms, according to the public health department.
Death cap mushrooms are one of the two most toxic mushrooms that grow in California during rainy season, according to the department. The other is the Western destroying angel mushroom.
Early seasonal rain created ideal growth conditions for the toxic mushrooms, according to experts at the University of California San Francisco.
Death cap mushrooms can look and taste similar to safe mushrooms. Death caps are often found near oak, pine or other hardwood trees.
It can take six to 24 hours before a person who eats one of the mushrooms shows poisoning symptoms, which can include confusion, nausea and stomach pain.
If a person has mild symptoms, they can still develop a severe reaction, the public health department warned.
Fatal liver damage can develop in two to three days, even after the first symptoms go away. Other serious complications include kidney damage, seizures, hallucinations and euphoria. At least three liver transplants have been needed during the recent outbreak.
To stay safe, people should not eat wild mushrooms, California health officials said. They also advised people to not eat mushrooms picked by friends or family and to be careful about buying mushrooms from street vendors.
Boiling, freezing or drying does not make death cap mushrooms safe to eat.
Children should be watched closely if they are playing near where mushrooms grow and pets should be kept away from wild mushrooms, the department said.
In the last big outbreak, in 2016, the California Poison Control System identified 14 cases of people poisoned by death cap mushrooms, according to a report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Days before the first case was reported in that outbreak, the Bay Area Mycological Society had warned poison control officials that there had been an unusually large bloom of the mushrooms because of heavy rains and warm weather, the report said.
There were no deaths in that outbreak, but three people received liver transplants and one child had a permanent neurological impairment.
Amanda Holpuch covers breaking news and other topics.
The post 4 Dead in Mushroom Poisoning Outbreak in California appeared first on New York Times.
