Public health Alert, please read and pass a long.

Working in Healthcare Emergency Management I get a lot of messages, most don't concern me. But I know a lot of you gather the wild things. So I want to pass this on.

With wild mushroom foraging season approaching, some foragers will mistake Amanita phalloides (Death Cap) for edible mushrooms with potentially life-threatening results. There were fourteen cases of amanitin poisoning in California in the winter of 2016 and 2017, with three patients needing liver transplants. In addition to accidental ingestion, there is concern regarding the intentional use of amatoxins as chemical war agents.
To address these concerns, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is currently working with the Laboratory Response Network-Chemical (LRN-C) laboratory at California Department of Public Health (CDPH) to develop a new analytical method for detecting amanitins in urine that could be used for future clinical diagnoses. California physicians are urged to contact the CDPH Duty Officer at 916.328.3605 or [email protected] to arrange sending urine specimens from potential poisoning cases to the LRN-C lab. Please note: urine samples must be collected and frozen within seventy-two hours post-exposure to be useful for this research project.

The full news release regarding wild mushrooms is attached, and is available at the link below.
https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/OPA/Pages/NR18-007.aspx

It's cool. California practices natural selection.

Weaponized amanita toxins?  Dafuq?

Weaponized amanita toxins?  Dafuq?

You trolling the TLDR crowd?

 
  I don't eat mushrooms, of any kind. I Think I'm safe.

The safe way is to educate yourself if there is danger.
http://www.bayareamushrooms.org/poisonings/index.html

Weaponized amanita toxins?  Dafuq?

You trolling the TLDR crowd?

I swear that release was edited.  It mentioned, in passing, that amanita toxins were theoretically bioterror agents and left it at that.

Guess I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue.

Weaponized amanita toxins?  Dafuq?

You trolling the TLDR crowd?

I swear that release was edited.  It mentioned, in passing, that amanita toxins were theoretically bioterror agents and left it at that.

Guess I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue.

You mean this part?

In addition to accidental ingestion, there is concern regarding the intentional use of amatoxins as chemical war agents.

-Allen

Weaponized amanita toxins?  Dafuq?

You trolling the TLDR crowd?

I swear that release was edited.  It mentioned, in passing, that amanita toxins were theoretically bioterror agents and left it at that.

Guess I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue.

You mean this part?

In addition to accidental ingestion, there is concern regarding the intentional use of amatoxins as chemical war agents.

-Allen

Yes.  That rings a bell.  Are you in my head?

Weaponized amanita toxins?  Dafuq?

You trolling the TLDR crowd?

I swear that release was edited.  It mentioned, in passing, that amanita toxins were theoretically bioterror agents and left it at that.

Guess I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue.

You mean this part?

In addition to accidental ingestion, there is concern regarding the intentional use of amatoxins as chemical war agents.

-Allen

Yes.  That rings a bell.  Are you in my head?

But of course.

-Allen