A death cap mushroom outbreak in California has killed three adults and led to liver transplants in three other patients.
As of Jan. 6, there were 35 cases statewide linked to the new fungi affecting people between the ages of 19 months and 67 years, the California Department of Public Health said Wednesday.
State health officials did not specify the ages of the people who needed liver transplants, nor did they say how many patients are minors.
Between Nov. 18 and Jan. 6, the 35 cases occurred in Northern California and the state’s Central Coast, ranging from Sonoma County, 45 miles north of San Francisco, to San Luis Obispo County, 190 miles northwest of Los Angeles, the California Department of Public Health said.
The mushroom outbreak, spurred by rain, has caused heightened cases, compared with the five such poisonings historically per year in California, according to SFGATE.
A December 2016 outbreak of death cap mushrooms caused 14 poisoning cases. That led to three liver transplants, including one for a child who suffered permanent neurological damage, per a 2017 National Institutes of Health report.
Dr. Craig Smollin, medical director at the San Francisco Division of California Poison Control System, said Wednesday that this mushroom epidemic “is probably the largest outbreak that we’ve seen in California ever,” according to SFGATE.
State health officials are urging residents to refrain from foraging for wild mushrooms since the poisonous fruiting bodies look similar to other varieties that are safe to consume. Death caps are dangerous even after being dried, frozen, boiled or otherwise cooked.
Initial symptoms appear within six hours to a day after a person eats a death cap and include nausea, vomiting, watery diarrhea, abdominal pain and dehydration. California health officials warn that though these symptoms often go away within a day, patients may still suffer liver damage that could be fatal within two to four days of eating a death cap.
