California Death Cap 'Super Bloom' Causes 4 Deaths and 3 Liver Transplants, Health Officials Urge No Foraging
Since Nov. 18, California health officials have reported nearly 40 poisonings from Death Cap mushrooms â including four deaths and three liver transplants â with patients aged 19 months to 67 years often requiring ICU care for acute liver failure. Officials say a warm fall and early rains have produced a "super bloom" of these mushrooms in parks and forests (often under oak trees), leading people to mistake them for familiar edible varieties; health authorities, noting many cases involved Spanish speakers, have expanded warnings in Spanish, Mixteco and Mandarin and are urging the public not to forage wild mushrooms.
đ Key Facts
- Since Nov. 18, California has reported more than three dozen (nearly 40) death cap mushroom poisoning cases, resulting in four deaths and three liver transplants.
- Patients have ranged from 19 months to 67 years old, and many required ICU care for acute liver failure.
- Health officials attribute the spike to a warm fall and early rains that produced a 'super bloom' of death caps in city parks and forests, often growing under oak trees.
- Dr. Craig Smollin said having nearly 40 cases is 'very unusual' compared with the typical two to five cases per year.
- More than 60% of the poisonings involved Spanish speakers; warnings have been expanded and issued in Spanish, Mixteco and Mandarin.
- A Salinas family case: both parents were poisoned after mistaking death caps for edible mushrooms they knew from Oaxaca, and the husband required a liver transplant.
đ° Source Timeline (3)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time
February 07, 2026
5:16 PM
Four dead and three receive liver transplants after eating death cap mushrooms in California
12:33 PM
California urges avoiding wild mushrooms after deaths, liver transplants
New information:
- Confirms four deaths and three liver transplants among more than three dozen death cap poisoning cases in California since Nov. 18.
- Details that patients ranged from 19 months to 67 years old, with many requiring ICU care for acute liver failure.
- Attributes the spike to a warm fall and early rains causing a 'super bloom' of death caps in city parks and forests, often under oak trees.
- Includes a specific family case from Salinas where both parents were poisoned after mistaking death caps for familiar edible mushrooms from Oaxaca, leading to a liver transplant for the husband.
- Notes that more than 60% of poisonings involved Spanish speakers and that Spanish, Mixteco and Mandarin warnings have been expanded accordingly.
- Quotes Dr. Craig Smollin saying having nearly 40 cases is 'very unusual' compared with the typical two to five per year.
February 06, 2026