17 downed in Kalinga for eating wild mushrooms

POISONOUS -- Jethro Simeon, senior health officer at the Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit of the Dept. of Health  Cordillera, at press conference Tuesday warns the public from picking, harvesting or buying wild mushrooms. The DOH-CAR said they recorded two incidents of wild mushroom poisoning on Aug. 11, 2023 that downed 17 people. (Screenshot of the DOH report)

DOH-Cordillera warns public 

By Liza Agoot 

TABUK, Kalinga – Seventeen persons recently fell ill in Kalinga for eating wild, poisonous mushrooms.
    This made the Dept. of Health Cordillera to warn the public Tuesday to be vigilant when buying and consuming mushrooms or picking these from mountains.
    In Baguio City, Jethro Simeon, senior health officer at the DOH Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (RESU), said not all mushrooms in the wild are edible, adding that several cases of wild mushroom poisoning have recently been recorded in the region.
    “We recommend that the public prefer to buy the commercially produced in legitimate selling areas, especially if they do not know how to decipher. So that they do not mistake a poisonous one from an edible one,” Simeon said in a press conference at the regional office here.
    He cited incident in Barangay Balawag in Tabuk, Kalinga where 14 people, aged 2 to 69 years, fell ill after consuming wild mushrooms. Another incident, in Cudal, also in Tabuk, downed three persons.     Both incidents happened on Aug. 11.
    “In both incidents, someone picked wild mushrooms at the forest and several people ate them not knowing that what was gathered were not edible ones,” Simeon said.
    All the victims were hospitalized but were sent home after several days of receiving medical treatment for vomiting, abdominal pain, and dizziness.
    The officer described the most common poisonous type as the one with a ring-like structure on its stem and scales on its umbrella.
    “It is difficult to identify them because there are numerous types so the best thing to do if you are not sure is do not pick or buy and prefer the cultured ones which are surely edible and will not endanger you or your family,” he said.
    “In case of emergency, seek medical help immediately,” Simeon said. -- PNA