Hoax: Oklahoma Bananas DO NOT Contain HIV Virus

Fact Check

  • by: Perry Sanders III

aids banana.jpg

A recent article on social-media claiming that bananas have been linked to a recent HIV outbreak is completely FALSE.

Food safety has been a rising topic in recent years due to various cases of negligence that ended up getting people sick. Whether it be from salmonella infected peanut butter, or the multiple Chipotle E-Coli outbreaks, there is certainly reason to be concerned with the origins of our food.

A story is once again making its way through the internet that claims bananas have been infected with the HIV virus that are now sickening people in Oklahoma. The UNTRUE article published by hoax website Cnnews3.com falsely reports:

A 10-year-old boy who had eaten a banana his mother purchased at a Walmart in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was rushed to the emergency room due to fever, chills and fatigue just seven days after consumption. After a thorough examination, blood tests and scans the young boy tested positive for the HIV virus... Eight children, all under the age of 17, have been diagnosed as HIV-positive within the month of March.

For those of you who skipped health class, the HIV virus can only be kept alive while in a human body. Additionally, it is a virus that is impossible to detect immediately after contraction (or 7 days in the case of this untrue story). The fastest HIV can be medically detected is 4 weeks after infection, although it can often take up 6 months before high enough traces of the virus will show up on tests.

The BOGUS story written by Cnnews3.com - a website geared towards deceiving its readers on account of having a similar name to news giant, CNN - holds no truth whatsoever.

For those who are still skeptical, here is a message from the CDC to put your worries at ease:

You can't get HIV from consuming food handled by an HIV-infected person. Even if the food contained small amounts of HIV-infected blood or semen, exposure to the air, heat from cooking, and stomach acid would destroy the virus.

Again, this story is NOT TRUE, and is not scientifically possible.

Lead Stories' Trendolizerβ„’ is constantly scouring the web for the hottest news, viral videos and images.

Thumbnail image for p3.jpgPerry Sanders III is a Philosophy graduate of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, and is an editor and social media manager at Lead Stories.

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