Wild mushroom poisonings hospitalise 10 in NSW, prompting health warning

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Death cap mushrooms
The Death Cap mushroom, which can cause death due to kidney and liver damage. Photograph: David Catcheside/SA Health/AAP

 

NSW Health has warned people not to eat wild mushrooms after a spate of poisonings put 10 people in hospital in February.

Health authorities warn it can be hard to tell edible and poisonous mushrooms apart, and it is highly dangerous if the wrong one is eaten.

In a joint statement with the Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust, NSW Health said the number of people taken to emergency was sharply up on previous years.

Dr Jeremy McAnulty, director of health protection with NSW Health, said eating poisonous mushrooms could cause abdominal pains, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea.

“Some varieties of mushrooms, such as Death Cap mushrooms, can cause death due to kidney and liver damage,” he said.

The wild mushroom season kicked in early this year, thanks to recent wet and humid weather creating ideal growing conditions.

Royal Botanic Gardens deputy executive director Dr Brett Summerell said it was best to just avoid the wild mushrooms.

“Unless you’re with an expert who knows each individual species of mushroom very, very well, you should not eat them, because many species are toxic and cause illnesses and, in some cases, death,” he said.