Think Before You Drink

This is not a new story, but it still raises some brows. Leptospirosis is a bacterial disease spread through the urine of infected animals, and this deadly disease is transferred the most through soda cans. With symptoms of high fever, vomiting, red eyes and bleeding, is this really an issue or is the possibility of catching Leptospirosis just a rumor?

An email was sent on June 2012, cautioning people that two members of a family were hospitalized in the Intensive Care Unit the day after their picnic after drinking out of a can, and resulting in one member dying two days later. The autopsy reports showed that they had been hit with the bacteria of mice urine that had dried. They then proceeded the email with cautioning everyone to wash all their canned products before drinking from them, since the factories that they are shipped from don’t clean them off before arriving to the stores. The ending of the email warns them that canned beverages are more contaminated by bacteria than public toilets. Before you start freaking out, you have to remember that the other family member did not die.

Another story that came out was that of a store clerk who cleaned rat droppings from the back and later felt that he was coming down with the stomach flu. He was working in Maui but was rushed to the hospital in Oahu, which doesn’t add up since the most practical thing would be for him to go to a medical facility in Maui. The story was not shown on the news and there was no record of anyone dying at St. Francis Hospital where he was supposedly hospitalized. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC) came out addressing this email stating “According to the e-mail message, the infection resulted from exposure to dried rodent droppings that were contaminated with hantavirus. The e-mail message warns the reader to take precautions when handling items such as soda cans and grocery packages (for example, cereal boxes) because they may be contaminated with hantavirus. The e-mail report is untrue. CDC could not substantiate this report of a hantavirus infection, nor has CDC been asked to participate in an investigation of the incident described in the e-mail.”

Leptospirosis is picked up the most in big cities with people splashing through puddles with a large rodent population, and swimming in rural lakes is another cause. In most cases, the biggest cause of Leptospirosis is not from drinking unclean soda cans. They are packaged in cardboard cases and shrink wrap and since warehouses are trying to get their product out as soon as possible, rats don’t have enough time to get on the cans and contaminate them. Cleaning off cans before drinking is still a smart idea, but these stories can be slightly dramatic and not all true. In conclusion, it is best to do your research on anything you may have questions about.

Works Cited

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