A 7-year-old boy and his father died Friday, bringing to 10 the number of people killed after eating poisonous mushrooms in Mexico’s southernmost Chiapas state.
All 10, from the same Indian family in the community of Tenejapa, had eaten a soup made with wild mushrooms gathered deep in the mountains of Chiapas. Eight other relatives died earlier in the week. An 11th family member, a 69-year-old man, did not eat the soup and was not affected, authorities said.
Wild mushrooms flourish during the rainy season in the forests and jungles of Chiapas, and are a common dietary staple for many Indian families. But recent genetic mutations have made some mushrooms, consumed for years in Indian communities, newly poisonous, officials say.
Authorities have been inspecting open-air food markets, collecting all mushrooms sold there to prevent further deaths.
Medical officials said the type of venom contained in the mushrooms that the family ingested had immediate and severe effects on the liver, making it difficult for doctors to help them.