Local authorities reported that eleven members of an Amish family, including a one-year-old, were hospitalized after consuming wild, toxic mushrooms.
The incident happened on Friday night in Pennsylvania.
An individual from a family in Peach Bottom Township, located in southeastern Pennsylvania, reported feeling unwell after consuming wild mushrooms that had been “found in the woods … and brought home for dinner,” according to Gregory Fantom, a spokesperson for the Delta-Cardiff Volunteer Fire Company.
A family member, adhering to their Amish lifestyle without a telephone, made a half-mile trek to a telephone booth to contact emergency services, as reported by Fantom on Saturday.
According to Fantom, the group consisted of one man, one woman, and their nine children. The fire department reported that the ages varied from 1 to 39.
“It was wild mushrooms, but the hospital would have to confirm the type,” Southern York County emergency medical services Chief Laura Taylor said.
On Friday night, the fire department and EMS units responded to a family after receiving reports that 11 individuals had consumed toxic mushrooms and were experiencing illness, according to a statement from the fire department on Facebook.
Taylor informed that the family was taken to WellSpan York Hospital. All 11 patients received treatment and were discharged overnight.
The Pennsylvania State Police and York County Sheriff’s Office have yet to provide a comment.
Peach Bottom Township is located close to the Pennsylvania-Maryland border, approximately 60 miles south of Harrisburg.
Each year, approximately 6,000 cases of toxic mushroom ingestion are reported in the United States, with over half involving children younger than 6, as noted by the National Library of Medicine. Misidentifying mushroom species is one of the leading causes of these poisonings.