{"id":105072,"date":"2026-01-19T21:26:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T21:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/105072\/"},"modified":"2026-01-19T21:26:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T21:26:12","slug":"death-cap-mushroom-outbreak-sickens-at-least-35-across-california","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/105072\/","title":{"rendered":"Death cap mushroom outbreak sickens at least 35 across California"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>At least 35 people across California have been poisoned by death cap mushrooms, including a toddler \u2014 and three adults have died, health officials said.<\/p>\n<p>The three adult fatalities and three emergency liver transplants have been linked to the ongoing outbreak as of January 6,\u00a0the <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/01\/09\/us-news\/billions-in-healthcare-fraud-discovered-in-california-dr-oz-claims\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">California Department of Public Health<\/a> said last week.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDeath cap mushrooms contain potentially deadly toxins that can lead to liver failure,\u201d the department\u2019s director, Erica Pan, said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49926794;display:block\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38224050\" width=\"885\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/119226075.jpg\" alt=\"Three deadly poisonous death cap mushrooms, Amanita phalloides, at different growth stages, with greenish-yellow caps and white stems, growing among brown leaves and debris in a forest.\" class=\"wp-image-38224050\"  \/>Heavy rain caused a surge in death cap mushrooms across California. Timo \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause the death cap can easily be mistaken for edible safe mushrooms, we advise the public not to forage for <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/12\/16\/health\/these-lilliputian-mushrooms-will-make-you-hallucinate-tiny-people\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">wild mushrooms<\/a> at all during this high-risk season.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Those affected range in age from just 19 months to 67 years old, officials said over the weekend, updating a health advisory from December.<\/p>\n<p>Officials said recent heavy rains have triggered a surge in death cap mushrooms across the state \u2014 and advised against fungi foraging.<\/p>\n<p>Among those sickened were Carlos Diaz and Laura Marcelino, who took their children hiking and foraging in Salinas in November, and ate the wild mushrooms.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe thought to ourselves, it\u2019s the rainy season, and like back in our town, people pick up the mushrooms. It\u2019s food, but we didn\u2019t think it was poisonous,\u201d Marcelino told\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ksbw.com\/article\/salinas-couplewild-mushroom-near-fatal-incident\/69906031\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">KSBW<\/a>, saying the sprouts looked like those the couple used to forage in Oaxaca, Mexico.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI cooked it as I would normally, and we didn\u2019t think it was poisonous.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The pair described their ordeal, which included an extended hospitalization and a liver transplant.<\/p>\n<p>Only Marcelino and Diaz consumed the mushrooms and soon after, both became ill and sought treatment at a nearby hospital.<\/p>\n<p>While Marcelino\u2019s condition improved, Diaz\u2019s health deteriorated \u2014 and he eventually fell into a coma.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38224047\" width=\"457\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/www-cdph-ca-gov-programs-119225986.jpg\" alt=\"Health alert about dangerous Death Cap mushrooms, showing them at different stages of development.\" class=\"wp-image-38224047\" style=\"width:472px;height:auto;aspect-ratio:0.77539063;display:block\"  \/>Toxic wild mushrooms are often mistaken for edible ones. CDPH<\/p>\n<p>Doctors recommended a liver transplant and prioritized Diaz on the transplant list due to the severity of his condition.<\/p>\n<p>Diaz received a liver transplant and has been on the road to recovery.<\/p>\n<p>From his hospital bed, he expressed gratitude to the donor family.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI feel for the family that donated the liver. It\u2019s sad losing a family member, but I believe they were good people to be able to donate an organ of their loved one and give it to me,\u201d he told KSBW.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf someone sees a mushroom, don\u2019t grab it and don\u2019t use it as food because they are not good for you. They are very poisonous,\u201d he urged.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe California Post is coming soon. Sign up for updates.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"inline-module__cta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGet in early. Be the first to know about launch and home delivery.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>The CDPH similarly warned Californians not to pick or eat wild mushrooms because the risk of deadly poisoning remains high.<\/p>\n<p>Health officials were especially concerned about amatoxins, the dangerous compound in death cap mushrooms that can damage the liver and kidneys.<\/p>\n<p>Toxic wild mushrooms are often mistaken for edible ones because of their appearance and taste.<\/p>\n<p>Just 24 hours after eating a toxic mushroom, people can get stomach cramps, nausea, diarrhea, or severe vomiting.<\/p>\n<p>Even if stomach issues fade, health officials warn that serious, life-threatening complications like liver damage can show up long after the first symptoms are gone.<\/p>\n<p>Public health officials urged Californians to skip foraging this season, purchase mushrooms only from trusted stores, and seek help immediately if any early symptoms appear.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo not forage for mushrooms this season,\u201d they warned. \u201cDeath caps are commonly found near oak trees, other hardwoods, and sometimes pine trees, and can closely resemble edible species, even to experienced foragers.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At least 35 people across California have been poisoned by death cap mushrooms, including a toddler \u2014 and&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":105073,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2136,47741,9,11,10,15449,3610,58],"class_list":["post-105072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-california","tag-mushrooms","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-poison","tag-public-health","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105072"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105072\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}