Mes: septiembre 2019

A bumper crop of deadly wild “death cap” mushrooms in northern California is likely to blame for the poisonings of 14 people in December, health officials say. The culprit: Amanita phalloides, believed to be the world’s most dangerous mushroom. All 14 recovered, but three required liver transplants, and a toddler suffered permanent brain damage, the researchers reported. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that anyone picking wild mushrooms have them evaluated by a specialist before eating them. “Wild-picked mushrooms should be evaluated by a trained mycologist [fungi expert] before ingestion,” according to the report published in the June 2 issue of the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. “Inexperienced foragers should be strongly discouraged from eating any wild mushrooms,” wrote Dr. Kathy Vo, of the University of California, San Francisco’s department of emergency medicine, and colleagues. The 14 people described in the report had eaten wild mushrooms they picked themselves or received from others. In previous years, the California Poison Control System had only received a few reports of mushroom poisonings each year. The large outbreak may be related to a reported increase in the growth of wild mushrooms in 2016, triggered by greater rainfall and warm weather at the end of northern California’s autumn. “Although weather conditions and increased numbers of A. phalloides poisonings do not prove a cause-and-effect relationship, early seasonal rainfall and warmer subsequent temperatures made a...

(CBS/AP) KABUL, Afghanistan – The commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan said a militant attack on a lakeside hotel in which 18 people were killed was likely carried out by fighters loyal to the Haqqani network. The al Qaeda-linked group is based in Pakistan and regularly targets Afghan and coalition forces in Afghanistan, and conducts deadly attacks in Kabul. Late Thursday heavily-armed Taliban insurgents stormed the Spozhmai hotel at Qargha Lake, a popular weekend retreat about a half-hour drive north from the capital Kabul, and opened fire on guests inside. Most of those killed were civilians. The 12-hour long siege ended Friday morning, after Kabul police said five attackers had been shot and killed. More in Afghanistan: The way forward “This attack bears the signature of the Haqqani network, which continues to target and kill innocent Afghans and blatantly violate Afghan sovereignty from the safety of Pakistan,” U.S. Gen. John R. Allen said. Allen said that some victims were killed in their sleep. He added that the coalition provided “minimal support” at the Afghans’ request. 18 people killed in Afghanistan hotel siege Officials have told The Associated Press that U.S. military and intelligence officials are so frustrated with Pakistan’s failure to stop local militant groups from attacking Americans in neighboring Afghanistan that they have considered launching secret joint U.S.-Afghan commando raids into Pakistan to hunt them down....