Flesh-Eating Bananas from Costa Rica!
Killer bananas from Costa Rica infected with necrotizing fasciitis, the deadly 'flesh-eating disease'? Don't panic, it's an Internet hoax

Warning:
Several shipments of bananas from Costa Rica have been infected with necrotizing fasciitis, otherwise known as flesh eating bacteria. Recently this disease has decimated the monkey population in Costa Rica. We are now just learning that the disease has been able to graft itself to the skin of fruits in the region, most notably the Banana which is Costa Rica�s largest export. Until this finding scientist were not sure how the infection was being transmitted. It is advised not to purchase Bananas for the next three weeks as this is the period of time for which bananas that have been shipped to the US with the possibility of carrying this disease.

If you have eaten a banana in the last 2-3 days and come down with a fever followed by a skin infection seek MEDICAL ATTENTION!!! The skin infection from necrotizing fasciitis is very painful and eats two to three centimeters of flesh per hour. Amputation is likely, death is possible.. If you are more than an hour from a medical center burning the flesh ahead of the infected area is advised to help slow the spread of the infection. The FDA has been reluctant to issue a country wide warning because of fear of a nationwide panic. They have secretly admitted that they feel upwards of 15,000 Americans will be affected by this but that these are "acceptable numbers". Please forward this to as many of the people you care about as possible as we do not feel 15,000 people is an acceptable number.

Manheim Research Institute

The above text and similar versions of it have been circulating since January of 2000. "Don't eat bananas from Costa Rica - they could infect you with deadly flesh-eating bacteria." So the hoax e-mail goes.

Frankly, if you'll believe this, you'll believe anything. Bacteria can't live on plants. Bacteria can only survive in animals and humans (both dead and alive), but most certainly not on plants. Plants can harbour worms and parasites, but certainly not flesh-eating bacteria.

The e-mail further states that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is reluctant to issue a warning, for fear of causing panic.

Nothing could be further from the truth. The FDA has indeed issued a statement in response to this hoax e-mail, which has been doing the rounds on the e-mail for months.

FDA issues response to hoax. "Health officials note that the type of streptococcal bacteria that cause this disorder, officially known as necrotising fasciitis, live in the human body and are usually transmitted person-to-person. There is no evidence that necrotising fasciitis, is transmitted by food," according to the FDA, who officially dismissed this rumour as a hoax and another urban legend.

The condition, which does exist, is extremely rare.

So, the bottom line is, feel free to eat that banana. It's not going to eat your flesh. In fact, it will do nothing to you at all - even if it comes from Costa Rica.

And Can anyone tell us where in the world the Manheim Research Institute is located? If so, please drop us a line, because we haven't been able to find a shred of evidence that it exists.