B.C. foragers warned to stay away from world’s most dangerous mushroom

The BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) is advising people across the province to stay away from a deadly mushroom that is popping up in urban areas.

The BCCDC says that they are alerting people not to eat the dangerous death cap mushroom, the most poisonous mushroom in the world. It is easily mistaken for edible mushrooms like the paddy straw mushroom. Immature death caps can also look like edible puff balls.

“We’ve had 30 calls between June and August about mushroom exposures and 16 in September alone,” said Raymond Li, pharmacist with the B.C. Drug and Poison Control Centre. “Now that the rains are here, people are seeing mushrooms all over the place. The volume of calls we get about mushrooms is really dependent on the weather.”

The Death Cap’s toxins can cause damage to the liver and kidney. Within six hours of eating it, symptoms such as cramping, abdominal pain, vomiting, dehydration, and diarrhea set in.

“After 24 hours, many people will feel better but the toxins continue to damage vital organs,” says the BCCDC. “A second wave of diarrhea and cramping occur within 72 hours after eating the mushroom, resulting in severe illness and organ failure.Medical treatment and organ transplants may be required to prevent death.”

The death cap is not native to B.C. and is found in urban environments, says the BCCDC. It was brought in on the roots of trees that line our streets and parks, like hornbeam, European beech, hazelnut, lindens, English and red oaks, and sweet chestnut trees.

“There was no way of knowing it was there when we brought the trees here,” said Paul Kroeger, founding member and past president of the Vancouver Mycological Society. “It was not until the trees matured, about 50 years later, that the mushrooms began to appear.”

A survey done in 2008 found the mushroom growing in more than 100 locations in the Vancouver area.

They’ve also been reported in other parts of the province including the Fraser Valley and on the Island. In 2016, a toddler died after eating death caps on Vancouver Island.

Children and pets potentially eating the mushroom are the main cause for many calls made to the Drug and Poison Control Centre. Foragers have also been known to ingest wild mushrooms and then have second thoughts.

“I generally caution against foraging in urban environments because of the added risk,” said Kroeger. “If you’re foraging, go to a natural forest and go with an expert; there are lots of mushroom clubs, events, and festivals.”

The BCCDC is asking people to report death cap mushrooms or suspected death cap mushrooms to their local mycological club or online through the B.C. government’s Invasive Species Working Group report form or mobile app.