The BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) says 2019 is on track to be a record year for mushroom poisoning calls across the province.
As of the end of September, there have been 201 such calls, compared to 202 in all of 2018 and 161 in all of 2017.
Poison control pharmacist Raymond Li says about two-thirds of the calls involve children under the age of five.
Get daily National news
Fortunately, there hasn’t been a fatal case involving a child since 2016.
Li says the BCCDC is reminding mushroom hunters, parents and pet owners to be vigilant, and his message is simple: “If you are unsure, don’t eat it!”
Death cap mushrooms are particularly dangerous because of their resemblance to edible varieties of mushrooms. They can be mistaken for edible puffballs when young or the Asian straw mushroom when older.
Death cap mushrooms have been popping up increasingly in parts of B.C., including Victoria, Southern Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands, Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley.
- Premier Eby says new markets, reforms will help forestry, but results will take time
- B.C. driver’s car removed from road, looked like ‘it had been chewed up by Robosaurus’
- Man who saw Myles Gray before his 2015 death said he seemed ‘in distress’
- ‘We are now actively hunting these extortionists’ BC RCMP says at task force update
Comments