Friday, February 25, 2000
Authorities discount rumors about bananas
An urban myth about killer bananas from Costa Rica has grabbed attention in Greater Cincinnati.
Mercy Health Partners has taken several calls from media and others asking whether patients at its hospital in Western Hills have died in the past week as a result of eating contaminated bananas. There are no deadly food poisoning cases involving Mercy Franciscan Western Hills, said spokeswoman Karen Kuhn.
It appears that many Cincinnati residents have been passing along an “urban myth” e-mail message that claims several shipments of bananas from Costa Rica have been infected with “necrotizing fasciitis, otherwise known as the flesh-eating bacteria.”
The e-mail is false, said Cincinnati Health Commissioner Dr. Malcolm Adcock.
Necrotizing fasciitis is a rare, but real, health condition that comes from out-of-control Group A strep infections. Cincinnati residents can and do suffer from these serious infections — but they aren't connected with bananas, Dr. Adcock said.
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