Third person dies from meal made with poisonous wild mushrooms

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A third person has died after eating poisonous wild mushrooms in a meal that has already killed two women after a lunch in south Gippsland last weekend.

Four people became unwell after eating a meal at a home in Leongatha, in Victoria’s south-east, on July 29, according to Victoria Police. The group was taken to hospital the following day.

A 66-year-old woman and a 70-year-old woman, both from Korumburra, died in hospital on Friday.

A 70-year-old man died in hospital on Saturday night. A 68-year-old man who consumed the same meal remains in hospital.

According to a Victoria Police spokeswoman, detectives are still probing the exact circumstances. It is not yet known if the poisoning was deliberate or an accident.

“The investigation into the incident remains ongoing and police will liaise with the Department of Health in relation to the matter,” she said.

An advisory in April from then-chief health officer Brett Sutton noted two varieties of poisonous mushrooms – the death cap and yellow-staining mushrooms – grow in Victoria during wetter and cooler months.

It is not yet known what type of mushroom the group ate.

Symptoms of wild mushroom poisoning can include stomach pain, nausea and vomiting. Death cap mushrooms can cause nausea, vomiting and serious liver damage, which can result in death.

“Anyone who collects and consumes wild mushrooms of unknown species is putting themselves at risk of potential poisoning and serious illness,” Sutton said in the statement.

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