Eight people die and 481 are poisoned due to consuming poisonous mushrooms in Iran
A spokesman for Iran's Emergency Organization has reported the deaths of eight people due to eating "poisonous mushrooms" and the poisoning of 481 others in recent days in some provinces of the country.
According to Mojtaba Khalidi, 47 people who were poisoned by natural mushrooms are reported to be in "severe" condition, and an unspecified number are also in the "liver transplant queue."
He added that these people were poisoned in the provinces of Kermanshah, Kurdistan, Lorestan, Zanjan, and West Azerbaijan.
According to Iranian news agencies, the significant rainfall in May this year, along with thunderstorms, has caused the growth of various types of mushrooms, especially the poisonous ones, and their consumption has led to the poisoning of many citizens.
The deputy political and security governor of Kermanshah has announced the name of the poisonous mushroom species that poisoned 223 residents of Kermanshah, killing five of them, as "Amulina."
Ebrahim Elahitabar said that 157 of the poisoned people in this province were discharged from the hospital and some were transferred to Shiraz due to the acute need for liver transplants.
He added that this year, due to "the prevailing weather conditions and humidity," the poisonous Amulina mushroom, "whose genes are hidden in the soil, has grown and multiplied throughout the province. Due to its strong and deadly poison, it destroys the digestive system and liver."
The deputy health director of the Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences also stated that at least 83 people visited medical centers last week due to poisoning from consuming poisonous mushrooms, and that the highest number of cases of poisonous mushroom poisoning in this province were in the cities of Kamyaran, Sanandaj, Divandarreh, and Dehgolan.
As Farzam Bidarpour said, after recent rains, various types of mushrooms grew in areas of the province, and people who "lacked sufficient ability to distinguish between poisonous and edible mushrooms suffered poisoning from consuming them."
The deputy director of medical care at Lorestan University of Medical Sciences also reported the deaths of three people and the poisoning of at least 125 people in this province due to the consumption of poisonous mushrooms, and said that two of the deceased had been sent to Shiraz for a liver transplant, where they died.
Abbas Pezki, while warning against consuming mountain mushrooms, added that determining whether some mushrooms are poisonous is only possible through "sampling in the laboratory, and it is not possible to determine whether mushrooms are poisonous through color, shape, taste, or other traditional methods."
The number of poisonings due to the consumption of poisonous mushrooms in Iran has reached such a level in recent days that the Director General of the Natural History Museum and Genetic Resources Office of the Environmental Protection Agency has warned against the use of poisonous mushrooms and plants in the country.
Tahereh Eftekhari considered identifying and distinguishing edible mushrooms from poisonous ones "very difficult," adding that only "expert and experienced people have the ability to distinguish between these mushrooms."
Ms. Eftekhari warned that "the smallest mistake in diagnosis may lead to death or serious damage to the liver and other organs of the body," and for this reason, non-specialists should not use "car mushrooms" under any circumstances.
Source: Radio Farda
