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Federal health officials
are warning US consumers that there is no truth to a rumor spreading via
e-mail that claims Costa Rican bananas may carry 'flesh-eating' bacteria.
The rumor being spread across the Internet claims that shipments of bananas
from Costa Rica are "infected" with 'flesh-eating' bacteria. Health officials
note that the type of streptococcal bacteria that cause this disorder,
officially known as necrotizing fasciitis, live in the human body and
are usually transmitted person-to-person. There
is no evidence that necrotizing fasciitis is transmitted by food.
The hoax is passing
from friend to friend via e-mail and appears to have a life of its own.
This is another urban legend. E-mail messages spreading the hoax often
include detailed claims that the disease has decimated monkey populations
throughout Costa Rica, and that upwards of 15,000 US consumers may be
at risk. The rumor's propagators also claim that the US Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) is keeping this information secret from the public.
Responding to the rumor, the FDA has reprinted the CDC's statement dismissing
the rumor as a hoax on its own website at www.fda.gov.
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