West
Toxic wild mushrooms linked to 3 deaths as state officials issue urgent warning
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Consumption of death cap mushrooms — often mistaken for safe, edible lookalikes — has been linked to a deadly outbreak in California.
The mushrooms, officially called Amanita phalloides, contain toxins that can cause amatoxin poisoning, which can lead to severe illness or even death.
In the California cases, the poisonings caused severe liver damage in both children and adults, resulting in three deaths, three liver transplants and 35 hospitalizations as of Jan. 6, according to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH).
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The CDPH warned the outbreak was linked to consumption of “wild, foraged mushrooms” and urged Californians not to pick or eat wild mushrooms at this time.
The officials stated in a report that death cap mushrooms are “still poisonous even after cooking, boiling, freezing or drying.”
Consumption of death cap mushrooms has been linked to a deadly outbreak in California. (Ethan Crenson/New York Mycological Society)
The California Poison Control System (CPCS) identified cases across Northern California and the Central Coast, spanning regions from Sonoma to San Luis Obispo between Nov. 18 and Jan. 6.
Affected individuals ranged from 19 months to 67 years old. Officials blamed the recent rainfall for the overgrowth of the toxic mushroom.
Symptoms of amatoxin poisoning
Common symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain and dehydration, which can occur within six to 24 hours after ingesting the poisonous mushroom, stated the CDPH report.
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“You might not get symptoms for the first five or six hours, and that’s just by nature of the breakdown of the toxin in the stomach. Then you get the nausea, vomiting and diarrhea,” Dr. Lauren Shawn, M.D., a board-certified emergency medicine physician and medical toxicologist at Northwell Health Phelps Hospital in Sleepy Hollow, New York, told Fox News Digital.
“Because of the damage caused by the death cap mushroom, the liver is no longer able to function properly.”
Although symptoms can resolve within a day, serious or even fatal liver damage can still occur two to four days later.
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After the initial stomach issues subside, the toxin continues to invade the liver cells and stops them from making RNA (ribonucleic acid), which the body needs to make healing and protective proteins.
“It takes some time for the toxin to actually damage the cell, which is why people don’t show up with liver failure until a day or two after,” Shawn said.
In the California cases, the poisonings due to death cap mushrooms caused severe liver damage in both children and adults, resulting in three deaths, three liver transplants and 35 hospitalizations. (iStock)
Amatoxin “damages many types of cells in the human body, but especially liver cells,” Dr. Adam Berman, the associate chair of emergency medicine and a medical toxicologist at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New York, told Fox News Digital.
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“Because of the damage caused by the death cap mushroom, the liver is no longer able to function properly. Without a functional liver, the body begins to fail and can quickly die,” the doctor warned.
As there is no widely available rapid test to detect amatoxin poisoning, clinicians rely on exposure history, symptoms and liver tests, according to experts.
When to seek medical attention
Anyone who has consumed this type of mushroom should follow up with their primary care physician or a liver specialist to monitor for liver failure, doctors recommend.
The CDPH warned the outbreak was linked to consumption of “wild, foraged mushrooms” and urged Californians not to pick or eat wild mushrooms at this time. (iStock)
“Ideally, if you have leftover mushrooms, bring them in or take pictures of them, because hopefully a poison center can call a mycologist and actually identify what the mushroom is,” Shawn advised.
Toxicologists agree with the California health agency’s warning to avoid foraging wild mushrooms.
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“The death cap mushroom can look to the untrained eye like many common and non-toxic mushrooms, which often makes it often difficult to spot and avoid,” Berman told Fox News Digital. “Because of this, it is best to not go looking for wild mushrooms to eat, especially in areas where the death cap mushroom commonly grows.”
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Shawn agreed that it is also not worth the risk.
“There’s a saying, ‘there are old mushroom foragers, there are bold mushroom foragers, but there are no old, bold mushroom foragers,’” she told Fox News Digital. “It’s a risky thing and you really have to know what you’re doing.”
Anyone who has consumed this type of mushroom should follow up with their primary care physician or a liver specialist to monitor for liver failure, doctors recommend. (iStock)
The CDPH recommends that individuals purchase mushrooms from trusted grocery stores and retailers, to be careful when buying them from street vendors, and to keep children and pets away from wild mushrooms.
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Those in the area who have ingested a death cap mushroom should contact the CPCS hotline at 1-800-222-1222 and seek medical attention right away, health officials advised.
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Idaho
Idaho’s Most Unusual Listing: A Pair of Medieval Castles Complete With a Dungeon and Drawbridge
Idaho is not a place that’s often associated with Medieval castles, but a pair have just hit the market for $6.25 million.
The imposing stone structures have towers, turrets, ramparts, arrow-slit windows and even a drawbridge, and might just be the most authentic-looking castles this side of the Atlantic.
“Who expects to see a castle like this in Idaho?” said listing agent Brenda Burk of Coldwell Banker Schneidmiller Realty, who brought the property to the market last week. They are, she said, “extremely unusual.”
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Schweitzer Castle and Château de Melusine, as they’re known, stand within Schweitzer Mountain Resort in the Selkirk Mountains and overlook the nearby mountain resort town of Sandpoint. They take in panoramic views of Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho’s largest lake.
The pair of ski-in/ski-out homes each have three bedrooms, two bathrooms and three stories, Burk explained. They are “so authentic,” she said. “Every single stone was handlaid.”
Schweitzer Castle, she said, wasn’t built for “functionality,” but has been modernized and adapted and now has everything a 21st-century residence requires, along with a dungeon, which for some buyers may also be a requisite.
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The chateau, meanwhile, has a hot tub room with mountain views, as well as a garage.
The property is being sold furnished, and will come complete with the hand-carved statues, armor, mounted swords, stained-glass windows and a host of antiques dating to the 15th and 16th centuries.
The owner, an antique collector who couldn’t be reached for comment, “is always looking for that hidden jewel and he found that here,” Burk said.
The next custodian is likely to stem from a varied pool of buyers, Burk said, that would include “the trophy-home buyer, someone who can say ‘I own a castle.’”
The property could also appeal to someone looking for a vacation home, or a multi-generational estate, and beyond that “there’s the dreamers,” she said. “We definitely try to market to people who like Medieval history or maybe do Renaissance fairs.”
The seller “really wants it to go to someone with the same passion.”
Growing communities, and new, large-scale projects popping up left and right.
It’s a time of rapid growth here in the western United States, and experts say over the next decade, electricity demand is expected to jump more than 20% across the region.
In anticipation of the bump, Nevada and 10 other western states formed a group called the Western Transmission Expansion Coalition, aiming to bring more power to those who need it.
They want to establish a regional framework and prioritize high-impact transmission lines, while urging Congress and the Trump administration to move projects along faster.
This agreement comes after several solar plans have been delayed in Nevada, following the order last year that Interior Secretary Doug Burgum must personally review all projects.
Joe Lombardo detailed the Silver State’s continued economic success depends on reliable, affordable energy, saying in a statement… “As our state expands and attracts new businesses, we need the infrastructure to support that growth. This agreement shows that western states can work together to modernize our grid, protect ratepayers, and build the transmission network needed to power the next generation of economic opportunity.”
Olivia Tanager, Executive Director of the Sierra Club Toiyabe Chapter, says the region is growing rapidly, and new transmission is needed. But she noted that when the new power is going to data centers or natural gas plants, she’s not in favor.
“We were promised that the green link transmission projects were going to help decarbonize our grid and be the answer to renewable energy in Nevada. And instead, what we’re seeing is we’re seeing data centers and natural gas plants being hooked up directly to those projects,” said Tanager.
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