Three people have died and dozens of others have become ill due to a toxic mushroom outbreak in California.
California Department of Public Health officials said it could be the largest such outbreak in the history of the state, which typically sees five mushroom poisonings a year.
Heavy rain has caused death cap mushrooms, including the Western destroying angel mushroom — one of the deadliest fungi — to bloom.
The first illnesses were reported in November, with a total of 35 people reporting getting sick by the first week of January, officials said Wednesday.
Three, including a child, were poisoned to the point of needing liver transplants. The ages of the sick individuals ranged between 19 months and 67 years. All three deceased people were adults.
One person remains hospitalized with “significant” liver injury, according to the California Poison Control System.
The reports were all made in Northern California in Alameda, Contra Costa, Monterey, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, and Sonoma counties. However, death cap mushrooms can be found throughout California.
Symptoms — like diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain — kick in between six and 24 hours after consuming toxic mushrooms.
Officials are discouraging people from foraging and being cautious when buying mushrooms from vendors or farmer’s markets since the toxin cannot be cooked or frozen off.
“Eating wild mushrooms gathered without expert identification can be unsafe,” Dr. Michael Stacey, the interim health officer for Sonoma County, said in a statement. “Some harmful varieties closely resemble edible mushrooms, even to experienced foragers.”
