May 26, 2018
At least 12 people have so far died this spring of mushroom poisoning across Iran. The authorities have told the public not to pick wild mushrooms or buy them from street sellers, but only to consume packaged mushrooms, which are grown for human consumption. There are more than 70 species of mushrooms in Iran and only a handful are poisonous, but it is hard to tell safe wild mushrooms from toxic ones. News reports say more than 700 people have been hospitalized this spring after eating mushrooms and about 50 remain in critical condition. The dead are five in Kermanshah province, four in Shiraz and three in Lorestan.