Close X
Friday, November 22, 2024
ADVT 
National

Health Warning: Deadly Mushrooms Make Early Appearance In Victoria, Spark

The Canadian Press, 18 Jul, 2018 01:04 PM
  • Health Warning: Deadly Mushrooms Make Early Appearance In Victoria, Spark
VICTORIA —  A type of potentially deadly mushroom is making an early appearance around Victoria, prompting a warning from the local health authority.
 
 
Island Health says death cap mushrooms, which usually appear in the fall, have already been spotted in several areas on southern Vancouver Island.
 
 
Officials say intensive lawn watering may be linked to the early fruiting of the small mushrooms with white gills and a smooth yellow, green or white cap.
 
 
Death caps are not native to Canada and grow from the roots of imported trees such as beech, chestnut and English oak, but have recently been found among native Garry oaks.
 
 
They can be easily confused with edible mushrooms, such as puffballs and paddy-straw mushrooms, but death cap toxin attacks the liver and kidney, killing as many as 30 per cent of those who eat them.
 
 
Dr. Richard Stanwick, Island Health Chief Medical Health Officer says death caps are found in rural and urban areas and are particularly dangerous to toddlers and pets.
 
 
A Victoria toddler died in 2016 after eating one.
 
 
"We are concerned about people with limited knowledge of poisonous and non-poisonous mushrooms; the differences can be subtle and even microscopic in some cases," Stanwick says in the news release.
 
 
He says wild mushrooms should only be harvested by those with significant expertise.
 
 
The health authority says nausea and vomiting begins about 8 to 12 hours after eating death caps.
 
 
Those symptoms seem to disappear after 24 hours and people can feel fine for up to 72 hours, but liver and kidney damage starts three to six days later.
 
 
Early treatment in hospital, possibly including a liver transplant, is essential, says the health authority.

MORE National ARTICLES

RCMP Dive Team Joins Search For Swimmer In Buntzen Lake Near Vancouver

RCMP Dive Team Joins Search For Swimmer In Buntzen Lake Near Vancouver
The RCMP dive team has been called to a lake in Metro Vancouver to assist in the search for a missing man.

RCMP Dive Team Joins Search For Swimmer In Buntzen Lake Near Vancouver

B.C. Anti-Gang Agency To Monitor Hells Angels Anniversary Bash In Nanaimo

NANAIMO, B.C. — As many as 300 Hells Angels club members and other outlaw motorcycle gang members are expected to descend on Vancouver Island this weekend.

B.C. Anti-Gang Agency To Monitor Hells Angels Anniversary Bash In Nanaimo

38-Year Old Port Coquitlam Man Arrested For Alleged Indecent Acts In Burnaby

38-Year Old Port Coquitlam Man Arrested For Alleged Indecent Acts In Burnaby
Burnaby RCMP have arrested a 38-year old male in relation to indecent acts which took place in the City last week. 

38-Year Old Port Coquitlam Man Arrested For Alleged Indecent Acts In Burnaby

Two Women Face Charges Linked To 'Cloud Gifting' Pyramid Scheme: Coquitlam Police

Two Women Face Charges Linked To 'Cloud Gifting' Pyramid Scheme: Coquitlam Police
After exactly one year of repeated warnings from police that the popular ‘cloud’ gifting pyramid scheme is illegal, formal charges have been laid against two suspects.

Two Women Face Charges Linked To 'Cloud Gifting' Pyramid Scheme: Coquitlam Police

PIC: Sawed-Off Shotgun, Ammunition Seized From Surrey Home

PIC: Sawed-Off Shotgun, Ammunition Seized From Surrey Home
The Surrey RCMP’s Drug Unit has seized a firearm and various ammunition as a result of an investigation into an alleged unauthorized possession of a firearm.

PIC: Sawed-Off Shotgun, Ammunition Seized From Surrey Home

Police Shouldn't Investigate Their Own Street-Check Policy: Rights Advocates

Police Shouldn't Investigate Their Own Street-Check Policy: Rights Advocates
VANCOUVER — Indigenous and civil rights groups complain that the Vancouver Police Department should not be responsible for investigating itself over the issue of significant racial disparity in the department's use of street checks.

Police Shouldn't Investigate Their Own Street-Check Policy: Rights Advocates

PrevNext