Eleven people in Pennsylvania had to be hospitalized last week after they accidentally ingested toxic wild mushrooms, according to fire officials.
The incident happened Friday night in Peach Bottom Township of York County, part of the state’s Amish Country.
An NBC-affiliated news outlet, WGAL, in Lancaster reported that nine of the victims were children and that the family told first responders they had foraged the mushrooms themselves. It was not clear the exact species of mushroom the family had eaten.
WGAL reported the family was treated and released, citing York County officials.
RELATED STORY | Company recalls nearly 10 million pounds of meat and poultry dishes for listeria contamination
One of the responding agencies, Delta-Cardiff Volunteer Fire Company Station 57, said in a statement on Facebook that the incident was referred to as a “mass casualty” because of the number of victims that had fallen ill.
Units from York, Lancaster and Harford Counties were all dispatched to the scene.
There are many different types of toxic mushrooms that grow in the wild across the U.S. Experts say it is never safe to eat a wild mushroom and that symptoms from eating a poisonous mushroom could be delayed for many hours.
According to a study done in 2018, the National Poison Data System logged 7,428 cases of toxic mushroom exposure, mostly from ingestion, over a period of 18 years.
