Three more people have been hospitalized after eating toxic wild mushrooms they had picked themselves, according to health officials in California’s Napa County.
Since November 2025, California has recorded 47 incidents involving people accidentally eating toxic mushrooms they believed were safe.
Out of these cases, several were serious enough to require hospitalization across six Bay Area counties, including Alameda County, Contra Costa County, San Francisco, San Mateo County, Santa Clara County and Sonoma County.
Some of the cases involved deadly varieties like death caps and western destroying angels, both of which can easily be mistaken for edible mushrooms. So far, four people have died, while others became so ill they required liver transplants.
Napa County health officials said the latest group had gathered mushrooms near the Deer Park area.
Health experts say the recent rain across California has caused more toxic mushrooms to start popping up, which is making the outbreak even worse.
Officials warned that poisonous mushrooms can look almost identical to harmless, edible varieties.
They noted that even experienced foragers have made deadly mistakes.
They said symptoms may seem mild at first, but can quickly turn life-threatening, which is why residents are being urged not to eat wild mushrooms at all this year. Parents are also advised to keep kids and pets away from them.
Usually, California only sees a handful of mushroom poisoning cases each year, but this season has been far worse than normal.
A lot of the earlier poisonings were connected to the area around Salinas. The region has a large community of people from central Mexico, where mushroom foraging is common.
Some victims reportedly mistook death cap mushrooms for edible mushrooms they were familiar with from back home, especially varieties they used to collect in places like Oaxaca.
Experts say death caps are especially dangerous due to their toxins, which can be fatal even in small amounts.
The mushrooms can grow fairly large and often resemble harmless species, making them easy to misidentify, especially for beginners.
According to one mushroom foraging expert, these toxic mushrooms were not nearly as widespread in previous years, which explains why more and more people are getting caught off guard now.
