Posted on 12/07/2025 8:21:40 PM PST by Red Badger
California officials are warning foragers after an outbreak of poisoning linked to wild mushrooms that has killed one adult and caused severe liver damage in several patients, including children.
The state poison control system has identified 21 cases of amatoxin poisoning, likely caused by death cap mushrooms, the health department said Friday. The toxic wild mushrooms are often mistaken for edible ones because of their appearance and taste.
“Death cap mushrooms contain potentially deadly toxins that can lead to liver failure," Erica Pan, director of the California Department of Public Health, said in a statement. “Because the death cap can easily be mistaken for edible safe mushrooms, we advise the public not to forage for wild mushrooms at all during this high-risk season.”
One adult has died and several patients have required intensive care, including at least one who might need a liver transplant.
Wet weather fuels the growth of death cap mushrooms, and officials warn against any wild mushroom foraging to avoid confusion. Residents in central California's Monterey County became ill after eating mushrooms found in a local park, according to county health officials. Another cluster of cases were in the San Francisco Bay Area, but state health officials warned that the risk is everywhere.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
I just smell mushrooms, never had a bad one yet !
One of the two most deadly mushrooms in the world. Neither is really hard to identify.
Milk Thistle extract is the most effective treatment but you need to take it soon after ingesting the shrooms and you probably ought to be under a doctor’s care as well.
Silibinin(a derivative of milk thistle) given intravenously is one of the more effective treatments for amanita poisoning. Other treatments are NAC, even intravenous penicillin...
Most important ..get thine “ass” to a doctor ASAP. At present the IV form of silibinin is available from FDA on a case by case emergency basis. (May have been approved ). It is available in certain European countries. The doctor has to get supplies from FDA approved suppliers.
Probably OK to use milk thistle products before silibinin treatment, but if not treated adequately liver failure could ensue...bottom line ..difficult to identify amanita mushrooms for many folks...why the H would anyone mess around? Reward for “self harvested” wild mushrooms hardly worth it. But then again people eat deer antler”velvet” cause they think it will give the eater great energy. Did see a case of someone getting fatal case of botulism from antler velvet. “Hold my beer” are famous last words.
Are they democrats?
Chanterelles? Morels?
Amanita..................
They probably got the amanita confused with the paddy straw mushroom.
Paddy Straw or Amanita Princeps could be confused with Death Cap or Destroying Angel.
See also Amanita Phalloides, could look like Paddy Straw.
https://www.mushroomexpert.com/amanita_phalloides.html
Yeah...that could be a problem. I don’t know if there’s been a recent influx of H’mong or Laotian immigrants into Cali. I would think that established vommunities would have this information. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanita_princeps
“Government publications where there’s only two additional language will be Spanish, and either Chinese, Tagolog, or Vietnamese”
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I learned recently that [Phillipines] Tagalog is pronounced ta-GAH-log.
Please return now to the subject matter...
:)
If you ever see one of these be sure to give it a good sniff!
https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/stinkhorns/
Ah, Giorgio mushrooms. You can smell their farms from the next town over.
Scary. Tough way to learn.
Were any casualties by a broken neck,for NOT eating the poison mushrooms?
Thinning the herd ...
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