At least 12 people in Thailand have died and 400 people have become sick recently from ingesting poisonous mushrooms, Deputy Public Health Minister Surawit Khonsomboon said as he issued a warning against picking and eating wild varieties of the fungus.
According to the health official, the number of people who have fallen ill due to wild mushroom poisoning have risen in the last four years. Surawit cited reports from the Bureau of Epidemiology from January to May this year which showed that more than 400 people became victims of wild mushroom poisoning.
The health department noted that the victims came from the North and Northeast of Thailand. The majority of the deaths were adults who consumed the wild mushrooms. However, the fatalities include a one-month old infant who was breastfed after the mother consumed the wild mushrooms.
According to reports, the wild mushrooms were from the genus Amanita. They do not look harmful, but they contain a high concentration of amatoxins, which can cause liver and kidney failure. Symptoms of wild mushroom poisoning include nausea and vomiting. If untreated, the liver and kidney will start to fail and the victim will eventually die.
The public health department also warned the public against believing myths on how to test wild mushrooms. People have said that a mushroom is safe for consumption if it has bug bites; has been boiled in water or does not turn black after being cooked with rice. All of these are not true, the health minister stressed.
