Four people have died and three others have required liver transplants after eating the aptly named death cap mushroom that's proliferating in California following a rainy winter. The California Department of Public Health is urging people to avoid mushroom foraging altogether this year because death cap mushrooms are easily confused with safe, edible varieties, per the AP. Since Nov. 18 there've been more than three dozen cases of death cap poisonings reported, including the four deaths and three liver transplants, according to the health department.
Many who sought medical attention suffered from rapidly evolving acute liver injury and liver failure. Several patients required admission to an ICU. They've ranged in age from 19 months to 67 years. The death cap is one of the most poisonous mushrooms in the world and is part of a small group of mushrooms containing amatoxins, which are highly potent compounds causing 90% of fatal mushroom poisonings globally. They're found in city parks and in forests, often under oak trees. In a typical year, there are between two and five death cap poisonings, says Dr. Craig Smollin of the California Poison Control System.
"The main thing this year is just the magnitude, the number of people ingesting this mushroom," Smollin said. "Having almost 40 is very unusual." Warm, fall temperatures coupled with early rains are leading to a kind of "superbloom" of death caps in California this year, experts say. Eating even a small amount can be fatal. Experts warn that a mushroom's color isn't a reliable way of detecting its toxicity—the death cap resembles many fungi varieties from around the world that are safe to eat, and it changes in appearance in different stages, Smollin says, going from a brownish-white cap to a greenish cap. Whether the death cap variety is raw, dried, or cooked also doesn't make a difference.
People can have stomach cramping, nausea, diarrhea, or vomiting within 24 hours after ingesting a toxic mushroom, and the situation can quickly deteriorate after that, experts say. Early symptoms may also go away within a day, but serious to fatal liver damage can still develop within two to three days. "Unless you're an expert who studies mushrooms, it can be very difficult to know," Smollin says. Treatment is more difficult once symptoms start, so doctors advise people to seek medical care once someone becomes aware they've eaten a poisonous mushroom or suspect they have. Poison control centers in the US can be reached at 1-800-222-1222 or by going to PoisonHelp.org. More here.
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
