Health officials in California have issued a warning: not to forage for and eat death cap mushrooms after three people have died and dozens of others have gotten sick.
The health department also warned to be careful when buying mushrooms from street vendors and farmers’ markets, ABC News reported.
ABC News reported that heavy rain has caused poisonous mushrooms to flourish, according to the California Department of Public Health.
Death cap mushrooms are among the deadliest and can cause liver and kidney failure, The New York Times reported. Nothing can make them safe to eat.
“Early rains and a mild fall have led to profusion of the toxic death cap mushroom in Northern California,” Dr. Michael Stacey, Sonoma County interim health officer, said.
The first warning about poison mushrooms was issued on Dec. 5 after the California Poison Control System identified 21 people who needed medical treatment after eating death cap mushrooms, ABC News reported.
From Nov. 28 to Jan. 4, there were 35 mushroom poisonings and three deaths. One case involved a child. Three of them, including the child, needed liver transplants because of the toxins.
Typically, there are fewer than five poison mushroom cases in California each year.
“Eating wild mushrooms gathered without expert identification can be unsafe,” Stacey explained. “Some harmful varieties closely resemble edible mushrooms, even to experienced foragers.”
The health department also warned to be careful when buying mushrooms from street vendors and farmers’ markets, ABC News reported.
The signs from being poisoned don’t show up for six to 24 hours after consumption and include dehydration, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain, The New York Times reported.
They can disappear in a day, but serious or fatal liver damage may occur in several days, according to the newspaper.
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