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Mushroom Season 2011

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Two die after eating death cap mushrooms

Yeah that is sad. Just adding some pics for HR value....

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here

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here

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Death cap mushrooms look similar to these straw mushrooms.
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"Usually within somewhere between six and 16 hours the person ... will start to get diarrhoea and vomiting," said Dr Summerell, who is the director of science at the Royal Botanic Gardens.
"That can hang around for a day or two and usually the person feels as though they're starting to recover.
"But a couple of days after they've recovered from that, that's when the serious impact of this particular mushroom happens and they'll start to get jaundice and more vomiting and diarrhoea.
"That's usually associated with liver failure and this particular poison eventually results in failure of the liver in severe cases."
A statement from ACT Health, released this week, said three people had died from eating death cap mushrooms in the past decade and there had been about 12 reported cases of poisoning.
Death cap mushrooms are filled with amatoxin, which can attack enzymes involved in producing DNA, Dr Summerell said.
A person only has to eat one or two mushrooms to become ill, depending on their body weight and the size of the mushroom, he said.
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here
 
I was thinking maybe the identiy problem was because of Asians often eating dried asian mushrooms in Australia. So in its dried state maybe it somehow looked like a deathcap. Though if they're chinese nationals that would mean they haven't been here very long? So.. it probably did just come down to someone's stupidity.

I can't imagine even the Chinese who eat some very strange stuff eat toadstools that look similar to deathcaps, or any toadstools.
 
psynapsurfa said:
this is so sad..



my heart goes out to the families of these poor victims.. and i hope that the remaining victims do survive... tho, from what i gather, unless a liver transplant becomes available, depending on the level of poison, they may not make it... i dont know the exact details of the current survivors, so it is hard to say..

i know that yesterday, there were 4 people in hospital sick from mushroom poisoning, and 24 hrs later, there are two in hospital, and two in the morgue... scary stuff...
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You know that there is a waiting list for liver transplants right? The waiting list is years no matter how urgent the matter it. Its not that common as kidneys as u can donate atleast one if u really need to save someones life. Very sad :(
 
Fatal mushroom meal cooked in commercial kitchen

ACT health authorities say the meal containing poisonous mushrooms that has claimed two lives may have been prepared in a commercial kitchen.

Two people have died in a Sydney hospital since eating the meal containing death cap mushrooms in Canberra on New Year's Eve.

The victims have been identified as chef Liu Jun, 38, and kitchen hand Tsou Hsiang, 52, who worked at the Harmonie German Club's Chinese bistro in Canberra.

The ACT Health Directorate says it has information suggesting the food containing the mushrooms was prepared in a commercial kitchen.

It says it has inspected a premises and no mushrooms remain on site.

It says there is no risk of the toxins being transmitted through cooking implements or pots and there is no risk to the general public.

In a statement, the Harmonie German Club says the food was prepared for a private meal and not for public consumption.

"We at the club are still in shock and in grief. However we would like to assure the members and Canberra community that under no circumstances was their health at risk."

Community in shock

A friend of the victims, Tom O'Dea, says Liu Jun was working temporarily in Australia to raise money for his family living in China.

"He's got an 11-year-old daughter and a seven-year-old son, they haven't seen him for three or four years or something since he's been here because he's just been working and sending money home," he said.

"He hasn't been able to go home for Chinese New Year yet, and this was going to be his last year in Australia."

Mr O'Dea says Canberra's Chinese community is in shock.

"You just don't expect when you make a really, really, not too dangerous decision by just going and eating something in the ground that you're just going to die a horrible death within 72 hours," he said.

"It's just absolutely astounding.

"And you add into it the complexities of trying to get their family members visas and passports, and repatriation, funeral costs, at a Chinese exchange rate, and the whole thing is an absolute disaster."

Mr O'Dea says the fungus is remarkably similar to a delicacy regularly consumed in China.

"It's just mistaken identity. Liu Jun would have been walking past it, picked it up," he said.

"Chinese culture is into super fresh food, that's why they have aquariums in restaurants because they want to eat the freshest they can. This is just an example of this."

The Harmonie German Club says fundraising efforts are underway for the families of the victims.

"The amount of cost that is already involved is over a year's salary for these people, in some cases multiple years' salary for these people to try and get this happening, and this isn't even including funeral expenses and that sort of stuff," Mr O'Dea said.

"So we're just trying to ease the burden.

Unrelated case

A third person who ate the mushroom meal was treated in the Canberra Hospital and has been released.

ACT Health has confirmed a fourth people present during the meal did not eat any of the mushrooms and remains well.

ACT Health says a person initially treated for mushroom poisoning in Manly Hospital and now in Royal Prince Alfred Hospital was not part of the group.

It says this fourth case of poisoning is unrelated to the other three.
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I think the opinion expressed in red highlights just how little most people know about mushrooms. You would think that a chef who uses these specific ones would know that there is a poisonous lookalike and have some way of checking if it's the right one...

Very sad story :(
 
bobbydarren said:
I was thinking maybe the identiy problem was because of Asians often eating dried asian mushrooms in Australia. So in its dried state maybe it somehow looked like a deathcap. Though if they're chinese nationals that would mean they haven't been here very long? So.. it probably did just come down to someone's stupidity.

I can't imagine even the Chinese who eat some very strange stuff eat toadstools that look similar to deathcaps, or any toadstools.
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that's pretty disrespectful man - these people died.
you don't really know the circumstances, and calling it "stupidity" just seems a bit insensitive.
this idea that all mushrooms are poisonous is something we are taught culturally, and there are lots of cultures that aren't so "mycophobic". from what i read today, death caps apparently look a lot like a chinese mushroom that is commonly eaten (source - http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-01-0...itchen/3760704).
you say that chinese people "eat some very strange stuff?" - do you realise that the idea of "toadstools" is a colloquial western one? there is no such thing as a toadstool (as opposed to a mushroom), it is just a half-cocked distinction made by people who culturally do not pick and consume wild fungus. some mushrooms are edible, some are not - that's the only difference.

i imagine that people who know their local mushrooms are taking very little risk in eating some, which is what makes this such a terribly sad story.
 
They don't look alike closeup. They look distinctly poisonous. I was very glad to see that the first time I saw one as I knew I'd never mistaken it for anything other than a toadstool, which was also the first time I went out mushroom hunting. LIving in teh same cowfields as the good stuff.. Both the Death cap, and the Avenging Angel have the distinctive white free gills [which instantly crys DON'T EAT], and white spores. Breaking the stalk it feels like a toadstool, smooth and snaps. - Just not mushroom like flesh.

It's known as the fools mushroom in Europe.
 
Cheers Sly. I took 4g that was picked and dried up there and the trip was less than stellar :( Only mild visuals :S
 
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