Woman Catches Leptospirosis from Unwashed Coke Can
Email rumor claims a woman in North Texas (or Belgium, or Botswana, etc., depending on version) came down with a deadly disease called leptospirosis after drinking Coke from an unwashed can contaminated with rat urine.
Description: Email flier
Circulating since: Sep. 2002
Status: False
Example #1:
Email contributed by Phil R., Sep. 25, 2002:
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Subject: FW: Coke anyone? Charming........ This incident happened recently in Belgium. A woman went boating one Sunday, taking with her some cans of coke which she put in the refrigerator of the boat. On Monday she was taken into ICU and on Wednesday she died. The autopsy revealed a certain Leptospirosis caused by the can of coke from which she had drunk straight out of,not using a glass. A test showed that the can was infected by dried rat urine and hence the disease Leptospirosis. Rat urine contains toxic and deathly substances. It is highly recommended to wash thoroughly the upper part of soda cans before drinking out of them as they have been stocked in warehouses and transported straight to the shops without with being cleaned. A study in Spain showed that the tops of soda cans are more contaminated then public toilets i.e full of germs and bacteria. So to wash them with water is advised before putting it to the mouth to avoid any kind of fatal accident. |
Example #2:
Email contributed by Kim P., April 8, 2005:
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IMPORTANT PLEASE READ This incident happened recently in North Texas . We need to be even more careful everywhere. A woman went boating one Sunday, taking with her some cans of coke which she put in the refrigerator of the boat. On Monday she was taken into Intensive Care Unit and on Wednesday she died. The autopsy revealed a certain Leptospirose caused by the can of coke from which she had drunk, not using a glass. A test showed that the can was infected by dried rat urine and hence the disease Leptospirosis. Rat urine contains toxic and deathly substances. It is highly recommended to wash thoroughly the upper part of soda cans before drinking out of them as they have been stocked in warehouses and transported straight to the shops without being cleaned A study at NYCU showed that the tops of soda cans are more contaminated than public toilets (i.e).. full of germs and bacteria. So wash them with water before putting them to the mouth to avoid any kind of fatal accident. Please forward this message to all the people you care about. |
Analysis: If you compare the two different variants above, one of which began circulating in 2002 and the other three years later in 2005 (with variants in between), you will find them identical except for the following features:
- The first claims the woman became sick in Belgium; the second in North Texas.
- The first refers to the disease as "Leptospirosis;" the second calls it "Leptospirose."
- The first claims a study conducted in Spain showed that the tops of soda cans are "more contaminated than public toilets;" the second says the study was done at "NYCU" (perhaps meaning NYU, or New York University).
There is no record in standard medical research databases of a study conducted at NYU, NYCU, or anywhere else comparing the cleanliness of soda cans with that of public toilets.
Soda cans are typically stored and shipped in shrink wrap or cardboard cases, so they're not necessarily the first place one should expect to encounter dried rat urine contamination.
Though relatively rare, leptospirosis is a real and potentially life-threatening disease which can be transmitted via rat urine and feces (or that of other animals). However, all of the cases reported in Texas over the past several years affected the canine population only.
This rumor is very similar to, and may have been inspired by, a different text circulating since 1999 which warns of deadly diseases transmitted via rat urine or droppings on soda cans.
Sources and further reading:
Coke Can Diseases Hoax
KCBD-TV News (Lubbuck, TX), 23 March 2006Leptospirosis
Adam Healthcare CenterDisease Information: Leptospirosis
Centers for Disease Control
Last updated: 08/05/10
