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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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DENVER — The Giants announced on Friday that they have reassigned third-base coach Hector Borg to a new role within their player development staff. Ron Wotus will fill the third-base coaching role on an interim basis until the organization identifies a permanent replacement.
Borg has made several questionable calls from
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DENVER (KDVR) — The last few days of May will be warm and mostly dry, but the Denver weather forecast does show a steady warming trend through the first week of June.
Highs on Saturday will be seasonal and mostly dry with a stray storm possible. Colorado will return to the low 80s on Sunday and will likely be dry across most of the state.
Denver weather tonight: Partly cloudy and mild
Skies will be partly cloudy overnight Friday. Any lingering showers will dissipate by midnight. Temperatures will remain slightly above normal with lows around Denver in the lower to middle 50s. Winds will be light from the south and southwest.
Denver weather Saturday: Seasonal and mostly sunny
Denver will see seasonally warm highs Saturday afternoon in the upper 70s, though the urban core may crack the lower 80s. An isolated storm or two may fire up in the afternoon north of Interstate 76 and the high country, but most of Colorado will remain dry.
Looking ahead: Warming to start June
Monday is the first day of June. Temperatures will be in the low 80s with a better chance for afternoon showers and storms. Winds will also be a bit breezy. The metro area will continue to warm Tuesday and Wednesday into the mid-80s. Both days have a chance for storms, but Tuesday will have a better setup for storms.
Denver will be drier the second half of the workweek as temperatures climb into the mid-80s. Next weekend may see highs back in the upper 80s. That’s not record-breaking, but quite warm for early June by about 10 degrees.
Next month the Seattle City Council could take up legislation to make street closures an official tool to prevent gun violence. This comes after residents near Aurora Avenue North created barriers to block vehicle access to their streets last week, in an attempt to keep drive-by shootings from flowing into their neighborhoods.
Councilmember Debora Juarez represents North Seattle’s District 5 and has championed the proposal, which she said was submitted to the Council during Bruce Harrell’s mayoral administration but then stalled.
Juarez said city agencies including the transportation department close streets for various reasons already, and should add criteria around public safety.
“If we have the wherewithal and common sense to protect pedestrians and bike riders and safe crossing for kids at school, we sure as hell can protect communities from stray bullets and gun violence and shootings in their neighborhoods,” she said.
A resident of the Aurora neighborhood whose first name is Jake, he asked that his last name not be shared, told the City Council Tuesday that a bullet recently struck his house, outside his 6-week-old infant’s bedroom. He said the Seattle Police Department characterized the recent gun shots on Aurora as mostly related to prostitution and gang violence.
“The city is allowing unchecked prostitution, human trafficking, and related violence” on Aurora, he said.
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Juarez said she is working with Councilmember Eddie Lin, who chairs the Land Use Committee, as well as Councilmember Bob Kettle, who chairs the Public Safety Committee, to introduce emergency legislation that could take effect upon passage by the council and approval by the mayor.
Where city code allows road closures for construction or to protect the public from various hazards, the new language would allow the police chief to recommend closure of a street or alley to prevent criminal activity. Juarez said the closure could be temporary.
“If the chief of police tells you there’s criminal activity, there’s a serious uptick in gun violence — let’s put up these barriers for 30 days, 60 days, 90 days,” Juarez said.
But she noted that officials will have to be careful not to simply push the violence onto other streets nearby.
“If you pull a string here it’s going to show up over there,” she said. “Those are the policy questions that have to be hashed out.”
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In a joint statement with Juarez on Friday, Mayor Katie Wilson called the violence along Aurora “alarming and unacceptable.”
But she said the barriers installed by residents needed to be replaced with “temporary traffic calming treatments to reduce cut-through traffic and address the access needs of those living in the area” as well as access for emergency responders and trash pick-up. According to KOMO, city crews replaced the metal planters with staggered, concrete barriers on Friday.
Juarez said she wants the city to act with urgency to address the residents’ concerns. She said the legislation could be heard in the Public Safety Committee on June 23.
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