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Health officials in California this week warned the public about foraging for mushrooms after a deadly outbreak struck the middle of the state.
The California Poison Control System has identified at least 21 cases of amatoxin poisoning that left one adult dead and several others, including children, with severe liver damage.
One might even need a liver transplant.
The poisoning was likely caused by the death cap mushroom, which is easily confused with edible mushrooms. Officials warned to also watch out for the destroying angel mushroom, which also grows in California.
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Residents in California’s Monterey County became sick after eating mushrooms found at a local park and another outbreak happened in the San Francisco area.
Symptoms can range from mild to moderate, depending on how much of the mushroom was consumed, and include stomach cramping, diarrhea, nausea, organ failure and liver damage and, in rare cases, death, the poison center said.
Even if gastrointestinal symptoms improve, serious complications can still occur, including liver damage, the poison control center warned.
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“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.”
Mushrooms grow in abundance during California’s rainy season — October through March — but the poison control center warned that “eating the wrong wild mushrooms can cause serious illness or even death.”
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Hundreds of poisonings are reported to the center each year, most causing severe illness and sometimes death.
Half of the roughly 4,500 mushroom poisonings reported across the U.S. in 2023 were in children, according to the National Poison Data System annual report, who may pick and eat them while playing outside.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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