The BC Centre for Disease Control’s Drug and Poison Information Centre is urging British Columbians to use extreme caution when foraging or consuming wild mushrooms. Poison Control received 201 mushroom poisoning calls as of 30 September 2019, well on track to being one of the most active years in recent history.
Amanita phalloides, also known as the death cap mushroom, has been increasingly popping up throughout BC, including in Victoria and South Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands, Metro Vancouver, and the Fraser Valley region. The death cap is the most poisonous mushroom in the world, most often found in urban areas here. There have been no reported human deaths from BC death cap mushrooms since 2016 when a child passed away; however, two dogs have died due to possible death cap poisoning in 2019.
Facts about the Amanita phalloides (death cap):
Tips to stay safe while mushroom hunting:
Visit the BCCDC’s information page on the death cap mushroom to familiarize yourself with what it looks like and what to do if sighted or ingested: www.bccdc.ca/health-info/prevention-public-health/death-cap-mushrooms [9].
There are many other varieties of wild mushrooms that are less toxic than death caps but can also cause severe illness. Search for “wild mushrooms” on www.bccdc.ca [10] for additional resources.
For information on which mushrooms in BC are edible and which are poisonous, visit UBC’s Mushrooms Up! database: www.zoology.ubc.ca/~biodiv/mushroom [11].
For more information on the Vancouver Mycological Society and their resources on poisonous mushrooms, visit www.vanmyco.org/about-mushrooms/poisonous [12].
Links
[1] https://bcmj.org/cover/december-2019
[2] https://bcmj.org/node/7561
[3] https://bcmj.org/sites/default/files/BCMJ_Vol61_No10-news_3.pdf
[4] https://bcmj.org/print/news/mushroom-poisonings-rise-bc
[5] https://bcmj.org/printmail/news/mushroom-poisonings-rise-bc
[6] http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://bcmj.org/print/news/mushroom-poisonings-rise-bc
[7] https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Mushroom poisonings on the rise in BC&url=https://bcmj.org/print/news/mushroom-poisonings-rise-bc&via=BCMedicalJrnl&tw_p=tweetbutton
[8] https://bcmj.org/javascript%3A%3B
[9] http://www.bccdc.ca/health-info/prevention-public-health/death-cap-mushrooms
[10] http://www.bccdc.ca
[11] http://www.zoology.ubc.ca/~biodiv/mushroom
[12] http://www.vanmyco.org/about-mushrooms/poisonous
[13] https://bcmj.org/modal_forms/nojs/webform/176
[14] https://bcmj.org/%3Finline%3Dtrue%23citationpop