Two die after eating death cap mushrooms at New Year's Eve party

Two people have died after being poisoned by death cap mushrooms at a New Year's Eve party in Canberra. A spokeswoman for Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital confirmed this morning two people had died, while a third person was still being treated at the hospital. A fourth person who also became ill after eating the world’s most poisonous mushroom was discharged from Canberra Hospital yesterday.

It’s believed the victims were from Asia, and mistook the deadly mushrooms for those used in Chinese cooking. In a statement ACT Health urged people to steer clear of the death cap mushroom, and that eating just one could be fatal. The mushroom often grows near oak trees, and are found when there is warm, wet weather.



"In Canberra this usually occurs in autumn, but recent summer rain means death caps can be found growing in Canberra," said Dr Michael Hall, Director of The Canberra Hospital Emergency Department. The fully-grown death cap mushroom cap is silky smooth, and its colour varies from white to greenish-brown. Dr Hall said the small button death cap mushroom was "very difficult" to distinguish from an edible mushroom.

"People should not eat any mushroom unless they can be absolutely certain that it is not poisonous," he said. "It can be difficult for even experienced collectors to tell poisonous and safe species of wild mushroom apart. So unless people are completely sure, they should avoid any white-gilled mushroom." Dr Hall urged anyone who suspected they had eaten a death cap mushroom to seek urgent medical help. "The sooner treatment begins, the better the patient’s chances of survival," he said.