Watch Out For These Poisonous Mushrooms Sprouting in Shenzhen

A visitor walking through Wutong Mountain recently saw these delicate mushrooms popping up and reported them to park management staff. After investigating, they found these are deadly amanita mushrooms.

The Shenzhen Food and Drug Safety Office immediately issued an alert.

▽

All districts and relevant departments of the city should immediately carry out investigations in all the natural parks; such as Wutong Mountain, Danan Mountain, Tanglang Mountain, Phoenix Mountain, Qiniang Mountain, Bijia Mountain, Yangtai Mountain, and Lianhua Mountain Park, to find and track wild poisonous mushrooms, and set risk warnings to tourists in a prominent position at park entrances and exits.

How poisonous is that "amanita"?

"Amanita" is a genus of several wild mushrooms species, some of which are highly toxic.

Between 2000 and 2014, 99 people were poisoned by eating (incorrectly) this poisonous mushroom in China, and 48 of them died. A medium sized mushroom of this variety could be lethal.

In Guangdong, the common highly toxic “amanita” varieties include——

• Deadly Amanita (White Poison Umbrella)

• Grey pattern amanita

• Yellow cap amanita white variant

In Shenzhen, the most commonly seen is the deadly amanita- white poison umbrella. Experts found it in Wutong Mountain, Phoenix Mountain, Yinhu Mountain, Biling and other places. So far, in Guangdong province, it's the "White Poison Umbrella" that has caused the most deaths. However, the climate in Shenzhen is very condusive to mushroom growth and these other poisonous varieties are also found here.

Other poisonous mushrooms also found in Shenzhen

Amanita pseudo-brown cloud spot

Pingshan Biling found a large number of pseudobrown cloud spotted amanita. The incubation period before the onset of symptoms is short, within 10 minutes to 6 hours after eating, and mainly includes nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea and other symptoms. There have also been reports of kidney damage.

Boletus edulis

These have been found in Phoenix Mountain, Biling Mountain and Wutong Mountain. Some of them are edible, some have digestive tract reactions after poisoning, and some can cause neuropsychiatric symptoms.

"Silk umbrella"

These have been found on the roadside of Wutong Mountain and contain neuropsychiatric toxins. Poisoning manifested with symptoms similar to pesticide poisoning, such as reduced pupils, sweating, and increased oral and nasal secretions.

Here are other poisonous mushrooms to watch out for

(Click to see larger picture)

 What Should you do in case of poisoning?

1. Call an ambulance immediately;

2. Immediately induce vomiting

• Drink a lot of warm salt water, and then use your fingers to induce vomiting and reduce the absorption of toxins.

• Pregnant women should use vomiting with caution.

• If the poisoned person is in a coma, it is not advised to induce vomiting as it could easily cause suffocation;

3. Cover with blankets for heat preservation;

4. Go to the hospital immediately. People who have eaten the same mushroom together, regardless of whether they are sick or not, should also go to the hospital immediately

5. Keep samples of poisonous mushrooms. The remaining mushrooms that have not been eaten should be kept for inspection to find out the cause of poisoning.

Aside from mushrooms, here are 9 other poisonous plants commonly found in the wild to avoid.

👇

Source:  有剧毒！深圳又现这种“毒物”，官方发布“通缉令”：全市公园搜山！

 Scan to follow ShekouDaily for
the latest expat news & info

RECOMMENDED READING: