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The
Woman Who Got Cockroaches In Her Mouth From Licking an Envelope-Fiction!
Summary of the eRumor:
A
California woman who worked in a post office decided one day that she
would lick some envelopes instead of using a moist sponge for that
purpose. In the process, she accidentally cut her tongue.
Later, she noticed a swelling in her tongue, but a doctor could not find
anything wrong. It finally got so bad that she was having trouble
eating, so she want back to the doctor. He did some tests, found a
lump on her tongue, and did surgery. During the surgery, he cut open
the lump and a live cockroach crawled out. It was determined that
she got cockroach eggs in her tongue from the envelope that caused the cut
and they incubated there.
The Truth:
This
is a widely-reported urban legend. There has never been a documented
case of this happening. Various versions of the false eRumor are
circulated including one that describes people who got cockroach eggs into
their salivary systems from infected taco meat at a fast food restaurant.
A real example of the eRumor as it has
appeared on the Internet:
If you lick your envelopes...You won't anymore!!!!
A woman was working in a post office in California, one day she licked the envelopes and postage stamps instead of using a sponge. That very day
the lady cut her tongue on the envelope.
A week later, she noticed an abnormal swelling of her tongue.
She went to the doctor, and they found nothing wrong. Her tongue was not sore or
anything.
A couple of days later, her tongue started to swell more, and it began to get really sore, so sore, that she could not eat.
She went back to the hospital, and demanded something be done.
The doctor, took an x-ray of her tongue, and noticed a lump. He prepared her for minor surgery. When the
doctor cut her tongue open, a live roach crawled out.
There were roach eggs on the seal of the envelope. The egg was able to hatch inside of her tongue,
because of her saliva. It was warm and moist.
This is a true story reported on CNN.
Andy Hume wrote: "Hey, I used to work in an envelope factory. You wouldn't
believe the..... things that float around in those gum applicator trays. I
haven't licked an envelope for years."