Health officials issue warning after Bay Area man dies in suspected mushroom poisoning

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Sonoma County‘s health officials have issued an advisory warning people not to eat wild mushrooms after a local resident died this past weekend after consuming them.

Dr. Michael Stacey, the county’s interim health officer, said Thursday that the death is one of 35 cases of suspected wild mushroom poisonings statewide, including three deaths and three liver transplants, between Nov. 18 and Jan. 4, an unusually high number. On average, the state sees about five cases of mushroom poisoning each year, Stacey said in a press release.

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“Early rains and a mild fall have led to profusion of the toxic death cap mushrooms in Northern California,” Stacey said. “Eating wild mushrooms gathered without expert identification can be unsafe.”

Sheri Cardo, a spokesperson for the Sonoma County Department of Health Services, said Stacey declined to release any information about the person who died, citing privacy concerns. She described the person as “an adult male.”

Cardo said health officials received information about the death from a local hospital’s emergency department. Officials have not yet received an autopsy to confirm mushroom poisoning.

“It’s very clear that that’s what he died from,” she said.

Stacey pointed out that harmful varieties can resemble edible mushrooms and can be difficult to distinguish even for experienced mushroom foragers.

The county did not share any additional details about the recent local death tied to mushroom consumption. Officials did not say if an autopsy was pending or conducted in the case.

Health officials said the best way to avoid poisonous mushrooms is to avoid eating wild mushrooms altogether. Cooking, boiling, freezing or drying poisonous wild mushrooms does not make them any safer, officials said.

Symptoms of mushroom poisoning may not appear until 6 to 24 hours after consumption, and mild symptoms, including mild nausea, can often lead to more severe reactions. Sometimes, early symptoms can dissipate within a day or two but serious to fatal liver damage may develop within two or three days, officials said.

County health officials said people should seek medical help immediately if someone suspects they or someone they know has eaten poisonous mushrooms. It’s not safe for people to wait for symptoms to appear and treatment becomes more difficult once symptoms begin.

Other wild mushroom safety tips include:

• Avoid eating mushrooms picked by anyone without expert foraging knowledge.​
• Watch children closely when they play outside where mushrooms grow. Among pediatric mushroom poisonings, the majority occur in children under 6 years old.
• Keep pets away from wild mushrooms — animals can be poisoned too.
• Buy mushrooms only from trusted grocery stores and retailers. Take care when buying mushrooms from street vendors.

You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at 707-521-5213 or martin.espinoza@pressdemocrat.com.