Three persons of a family lost their lives on Sunday after consuming poisonous mushrooms in the Merapani town of Assam’s Golaghat district. A total of 13 people, from five families, had consumed the poisonous mushrooms they had collected from the nearby forests. The deceased have been identified as Prafulla Barman (24), his wife Tarali (23) and their two-year-old son Hemanta.
The three were immediately rushed to Jorhat Medical College and Hospital (JMCH), but were declared dead on arrival. Consumption of poisonous mushrooms have accounted for several deaths in Assam in the past.
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Mushroom poisoning related deaths are quite common in the northeastern part of India, especially Assam, with the victims mostly being tea garden labourers. Most of these deaths occur especially in the months of March and April, when the poisonous mushrooms (amanita phalloides), known as death caps, flourish in the tea gardens of the state.
The people, living in the tea gardens and other backward areas, consider mushrooms, grown in the wild, a delicacy. There is no record on the actual loss of lives caused by the consumption of poisonous mushrooms, as most of these deaths occur in some of the remotest areas and, thus, go unreported.
In April 2022, a total of 35 patients with mushroom poisoning were admitted to the Assam Medical College and Hospital (AMCH), Dibrugarh, in a serious condition. Of these, 16 died within two days of being admitted. All the patients hailed from four nearby Upper Assam districts — Dibrugarh, Sivasagar, Charaideo, and Tinsukia — and the majority of them were tea garden labourers.
On the other hand, six people fell critically ill the same month, after consuming poisonous mushrooms in the hill district of Dima Hasao. However, they survived as they got immediate medical attention.
Another 20 people, again, mostly tea garden labourers, lost their lives after consuming poisonous mushrooms in Assam in 2008. It was the worst mushroom poisoning death incident ever reported in Assam. Immediately after this case, the state government constituted a panel to investigate the matter.
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The panel, comprising scientists from the Assam Agriculture University (AAU), found that a poisonous variety of mushroom called 'amanita phalloides' or 'death caps' were responsible for the deaths.
Consumption of poisonous mushrooms causes gastrointestinal illness such as nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps, and diarrhoea. These eventually lead to liver failure and death. About nine out of 10 fungi-related deaths are attributable to the death cap mushroom.
Speaking to ABP Live on the deaths caused by poisonous mushrooms, professor of Horticulture at AAU Ananta Saikia said, “The main reason behind this is the lack of knowledge among the consumers who feast on them. The consumers, mostly belonging to the tea gardens, have a craze for the mushrooms, which grow in the wild, as they feel it is much tastier than the one, which is scientifically cultivated by farmers. However, they are unable to identify the rare, tasty ones among the widely growing poisonous ones.”
“Moreover, a lack of awareness among the people, not just in the tea gardens, but also in some hill districts, such as Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao, leads to incidents of mushroom poisoning. I have travelled to places, like Karbi Anglong, and was surprised to see the enthusiasm among the villagers to have mushrooms that grow in the wild. Most of the time they are lucky, but sometimes they pick the wrong variety of mushrooms," added Professor Saikia.
The Assam government periodically conducts awareness campaigns through newspaper advertisements against the consumption of poisonous mushrooms. However, the message fails to reach remote places due to various reasons — chief among them being illiteracy.