Warning as deadly mushrooms take over Aussie gardens: 'Extremely dangerous'
Death cap mushrooms are springing up around Australia following heavy rains, prompting a warning from the Food Safety Information Council.
"As soon as the soil gets cool, they pop up around the country. We're warning people not to pick or eat wild mushrooms," the Council's CEO Lydia Buchtmann told Yahoo News on Thursday.
It's the second warning issued this year about the dangerous invasive fungus that flourishes in forests, backyards and gardens. While death caps appear similar to edible mushrooms, eating just a quarter of a teaspoon of one can kill a healthy adult.
In March, the Council highlighted an increase in foraging for wild foods for two key reasons. With specialty mushrooms costing up to $250 a kilo, some are doing it to avoid paying premium prices for the fungi. Others have been encouraged by online communities dedicated to foraging.
Buchtmann warns that identifying what's harmless and what's 'extremely dangerous' is a near-impossible task, and the consequences of mistakenly eating a poison mushroom can result in hospitalisation and even death.
'The poison immediately gets into your liver, then into your kidneys, and then goes around in a circle through your bloodstream, making you feel worse and worse,' she said.
'There is an antidote, but you have to be really quick in getting to hospital. It can help, but most of them only keep a couple of doses because it's quite expensive and doesn't last long. So perhaps if you're the third person who turns up, then you're probably less lucky than the first two.'
Death caps have been documented in Canberra, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia. They likely hitched a ride to Australia on the roots of oak trees that were planted by early colonists and while they can be seen throughout the year, they flourish when warm weather follows heavy rain.
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In May last year, a 98-year-old Victorian woman died, and her son became ill, after they ate death cap mushrooms picked from her garden. In April 2022, a child was hospitalised in the ACT after consuming a death cap mushroom, and a decade earlier two people died on New Year's Eve after eating them at a dinner party.
Deaths from other types of wild mushrooms in Australia are rare. But Cortinarius (webcap) and Galerina species are poisonous if ingested. Another culprit is the ghost mushroom, which is often mistaken for oyster mushrooms, and the yellow stainer looks very similar to a field mushroom.
It's not just foragers the Food Safety Information Council is concerned about. Death caps can also spring up in backyards where they pose a danger to children, who love to put things in their mouths, and they also present a danger to pets.
Its advice for anyone who suspects they or a family member has eaten a poisonous mushroom is to seek immediate medical treatment.
'Don't wait for symptoms to occur but go to a hospital emergency department taking the mushroom with you if you can,' it said in a statement. 'You can also contact the Poisons Information Centre from anywhere in Australia on 13 11 26 (24 hours a day 7 days a week).'
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