Couple suffer severe food poisoning after eating wild mushrooms

SIK, Kedah, Malaysia – A husband and wife suffered food poisoning after eating poisonous wild mushrooms they mistakenly thought were rare yearly mushrooms on June 28.

Scientifically known as Termitomyces, yearly mushrooms are an edible wild mushroom native to South-east Asia, typically found growing on termite mounds after heavy rain.

According to Malay daily Sinar Harian, the victims, both aged 28, are believed to have cooked and served the poisonous mushrooms for lunch.

Article continues after this advertisement

Shortly after eating the dish, they developed symptoms of food poisoning, including severe vomiting and diarrhoea, before being found collapsed in the bathroom of their home.

FEATURED STORIES

GLOBALNATION

GLOBALNATION

GLOBALNATION

READ: DOH-CAR cautions vs eating wild mushrooms after poisoning cases

Yayasan Jariah Malaysia Volunteer Brigade chairman Mahadzir Abd Hamid said an emergency call on the incident was received at 4.40pm.

He said two ambulances with five personnel were deployed to the scene and arrived about 12 minutes later.

“Immediate rescue assistance was carried out by five personnel using special equipment,” he said on June 29.

Article continues after this advertisement

Mahadzir said, however, that the operation was challenging as the two victims had a combined weight of about 280kg, while space inside the house was also limited.

READ: Health officials warn against wild mushrooms after poisoning outbreak

Article continues after this advertisement

The operation to extract the victims from their house took about 20 minutes using special equipment before they were successfully moved into the ambulances.

“Both victims were then sent to the Hospital Sik emergency department for further treatment,” he added.

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.

Your subscription has been successful.

The operation ended at 7pm. /dl