Mysterious Outbreak Of Mushroom Poisoning In Iran

[JamesWhitehead]

“Residents of this area always use wild mushrooms but have never had any issues and it’s surprising for us to see this happening this year in Kermanshah and its vicinity.”

Suddenly 800 people have been affected and 11 are dead!

 

[Yithian]

Trump's new methods are faster than expected.

 

[GNC]

It was either a mushroom or a mushroom cloud...

 

[ramonmercado]

Bit odd.

There was an upsurge in mushroom poisoning in 2011 in NE US.

There were 63 reported mushroom poisonings in September in Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire, more than double the 28 reported during the same month last year, according to the Northern New England Poison Center.

The increase was even more dramatic in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, where there were 45 calls about poisonings in September 2011 against just 5 reports in September 2010, according to Colleen Connolly, spokeswoman for Children’s Hospital Boston, which runs the two-state poison center.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...-mushrooms-in-northeast-idUSTRE79K4MU20111021

And warnings for the UK in 2016 by The Sun but no mass poisoning seemed to follow.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/19745...-that-kill-90-per-cent-of-those-who-eat-them/

I very much doubt if the US is engaging in indiscriminate mass murder in Iran.

 

[Xanatic*]

A few universities in Iran were getting ready for mass protests, regarding the hijab rules. The evening before, about 1200 students came down with symptoms of food poisoning. The authorities say it was due to a water-bourne bacteria. Coincidence?

https://nypost.com/2022/12/06/1200-iranian-students-poisoned-ahead-of-mass-protests/

 

[James_H]

And warnings for the UK in 2016 by The Sun but no mass poisoning seemed to follow.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/19745...-that-kill-90-per-cent-of-those-who-eat-them/

Very misleading article, only the top picture shows death caps. I suspect there was no mass poisoning because fungus foraging isn't nearly as common an activity in the UK as it is in some cultures.

 

[maximus otter]

“Residents of this area always use wild mushrooms but have never had any issues and it’s surprising for us to see this happening this year in Kermanshah and its vicinity.”

Suddenly 800 people have been affected and 11 are dead!

From the article linked in the OP:

“She fried some and ate them and got poisoned. We took her to hospital while she was feeling really terrible. She has since recovered and doctors are happy with her progress.”

Behnaz added: “Some of my mother’s neighbours also got poisoned and had similar symptoms but they felt much better and have since been discharged from hospital.”

I have zero medical knowledge, but l’m sure that the effects of fungal toxins would be more persistent than is implied here. This leaves me wondering whether it was the oil in which they were fried, rather than the mushrooms themselves, which caused the problems. l’m reminded of the 1981 outbreak of poisoning in Spain, caused by contaminated rapeseed oil.

maximus otter