An exceptionally wet December has contributed to an abundance of death cap mushrooms, or Amanita phalloides, on the Central Coast and Northern California, causing what officials describe as an unprecedented outbreak of severe illness and death among people who consume the fungi.<\/p>\n
Public health officials are issuing a second warning<\/a> this winter, this time urging the public against foraging for wild mushrooms, noting that many people have mistakenly eaten the death cap that, when consumed, can cause severe liver damage and in some causes death. <\/p>\n In the last 26 years, \u201cwe have not had a season as deadly as this season both in terms of the total numbers of cases as well as deaths and liver transplants,\u201d said Craig Smollin, medical director of the San Francisco division of the California Poison Control System.<\/p>\n \u201cI believe this is probably the largest outbreak that we\u2019ve seen in California, ever.\u201d <\/p>\n Many of the cases, officials say, have involved people from Mexico and elsewhere for whom the death cap resembles an edible mushroom in their home countries.<\/p>\n The California Department of Public health reported 35 death cap-related illness, including three fatalities and three liver transplants between Nov. 18 and Jan. 6. Affected people were between the ages of 19 months old and 67 years old. <\/p>\n In a typical year, the California Poison Control Center may receive up to five cases of poisonous mushroom-related illness, according to authorities. <\/p>\n The last major outbreak of mushroom-related illness in California occurred in 2016 with 14 reported cases and while there were no deaths, three people required liver transplants and one child suffered a \u201cpermanent neurologic impairment.\u201d<\/a> <\/p>\n The death cap is the world\u2019s most poisonous mushroom, responsible for 90% of mushroom-related fatalities.<\/a><\/p>\n Where the death-cap outbreak is concentrated<\/p>\n When state public health officials first warned of the dangers of the death-cap mushroom in December,<\/a> significant clusters of reported illness occurred in Monterey and the San Francisco bay areas. <\/p>\n Reported hospitalizations have since grown to include Alameda, Contra Costa, Monterey, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and Sonoma counties. <\/p>\n Death cap mushrooms are known to sprout across the state of California but they thrive in shady, humid or moist environments under live oak and cultivated cork oak trees. <\/p>\n Death cap mushrooms bloom particularly well after the fall and winter rains. Once they sprout, its tall and graceful characteristics are very conspicuous and catch people\u2019s eye, said David Campbell, an expert on mushroom consumption or a mycophagist. <\/p>\n Who is mistakenly eating the death cap<\/p>\n People who have accidentally consumed the death cap were usually foraging for mushrooms in the wilderness, either alone or with a group, officials say. <\/p>\n Among the affected are monolingual speakers of Spanish, Chinese, Mandarin and Mixteco as well as foragers who may confuse the death cap mushroom for edible fungi from their native countries, according to experts.<\/p>\n \u201cSo they have a false sense of security in their knowledge, thinking they know what they\u2019re doing but that only applies to where they\u2019re from,\u201d Campbell said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re seeing that a number of patients do seem to have a Hispanic background,\u201d said Dr. Rita Nguyen, assistant state public health officer at the California Department of Public Health. <\/p>\n In November, a Salinas family said they went on a hike in their community and found the death cap which looked similar to an edible mushroom they would forage for in their hometown in Oaxaca, KSBW Action News reported<\/a>. <\/p>\n Laura Marcelino and Carlos Diaz took the mushrooms home, cooked them and ate them \u2014 their children did not. They both threw up, had diarrhea for an entire day and were later hospitalized, KSBW Action News reported. Marcelino\u2019s condition improved but Diaz\u2019s health declined exponentially to the point that he fell into a coma and was put on a list to receive a liver transplant, according to news reports. <\/p>\n Why people are mistakenly eating death cap mushrooms<\/p>\n