Back in 2000 an email rumor was going around here in the U.S. warning of bananas infected by a flesh-eating bacteria. The rumor read, in part, that:
Several shipments of bananas from Costa Rica have been infected with necrotizing fasciitis, otherwise known as flesh-eating bacteria... It is advised not to purchase bananas for the next three weeks.
Because of this rumor, the Centers for Disease Control had to issue a warning assuring everyone that no shipments of killer bananas had ever arrived from Costa Rica, or anywhere else in the world.
It now looks like a variant of the killer-banana rumor has popped up in China.
The BBC reports that:
A rumour spread by text message has badly hit the price of bananas from China's Hainan island, state media say. The messages claim the fruit contains viruses similar to Sars, the severe respiratory illness which has killed hundreds of people worldwide.
The Chinese Health Ministry has issued a statement, assuring everyone that there is no truth to the banana rumor and noting that, "There has not been a case in the world in which humans have contracted a plant virus, and there is not any scientific evidence."
Comments
I can completely understand the Chinese people being worried and discounting the governmental assurances that their bananas are safe, especially in light of the recent death sentence handed down to the head of their State Food and Drug Administration.
"There has not been a case in the world in which humans have contracted a plant virus, and there is not any scientific evidence."
Are we supposed to believe the country that gave us acupuncture and feng shui?
So even when they have the facts on their side you're automatically skeptical of them. It will be hard for them to every achieve a level where most people, even their own, give them the benefit of the doubt.