SFGate.com Saved from : http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/11/30/BAGAPA3OOH1.DTL OAKLAND 'Death cap' claims one life Woman dies after she consumed wild mushrooms Henry K. Lee, Wyatt Buchanan, Chronicle Staff Writers Tuesday, November 30, 2004 A 70-year-old woman died Monday and her husband and two friends were hospitalized after they ate poisonous "death cap" wild mushrooms collected in the Oakland hills, authorities said. The adult victims fell ill after ingesting the toxic Amanita phalloides mushrooms on Thanksgiving Day, said Sherri Willis, spokeswoman for the Alameda County public health department. Yu-Chin Lai died at 2:35 p.m. Monday at Highland Hospital in Oakland. An autopsy is scheduled for today at the Alameda County coroner's office. Lai's husband, Chin Chiang, 76, was released from a hospital over the weekend, said his daughter, a San Rafael woman who declined to give her name. Chiang lives in the Oakland hills near Leona Canyon Regional Open Space Preserve. Two women in their late 40s or early 50s who were visiting the couple during the holiday remained hospitalized: One was in critical condition, and the other was improving, according to Willis and a family friend. The family friend said the women, who knew the couple from Taiwan, picked the mushrooms Thanksgiving morning during a hike near Merritt College. The four people ate the mushrooms at lunch and dinner that day, the friend said, though Chiang ate only a small amount. By nighttime, the four began vomiting, and they saw doctors during the day Friday, who gave them medicine that didn't help, the friend said. On Saturday, the sickness continued, and one of the visiting women went to the emergency room but had to wait nearly four hours after registering before being seen by a doctor, the friend said. Once the doctor saw the woman and learned that she had consumed mushrooms, he asked that the three others immediately come for treatment. Although death from eating poisoned mushrooms is rare, two people in Sonoma and Santa Cruz counties died in 1996. In 1997, Sam Sebastiani Jr., a 32- year-old member of the Sonoma County wine-making family, died after he accidentally ate poisonous wild mushrooms gathered during an outing with friends. The death cap mushroom has a white stalk and a wide, smooth cap with yellow or greenish tints. It often grows under oak trees and is especially abundant with the onset of the rainy season. Cases of mushroom poisoning most frequently occur among recent immigrants who mistake toxic mushrooms for the harmless ones that grow in their countries of origin, said Dr. Anthony Iton, county health officer. The four people poisoned on Thanksgiving were immigrants from Taiwan. "We are particularly concerned for new immigrants or visitors from other countries who might be accustomed to collecting wild mushrooms in their native land," Iton said. Symptoms of poisoning -- which often don't show up for eight to 16 hours -- include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and severe cramps. Anyone who develops symptoms after eating wild mushrooms should call the California Poison Control System at (800) 876-4766 and seek medical attention.