No one would have made the connection between his job and his death, had it not been for a doctor who specifically asked if he had been in a warehouse or exposed to dried rat or mouse droppings at any time. They said there is a virus (much like the Hanta virus) that lives in dried rat and mouse droppings. Once dried, these droppings are like dust and can easily be breathed in or ingested if a person does not wear protective gear or fails to wash face and hands thoroughly. An autopsy was performed on the clerk to verify the doctor's suspicions.
Never underestimate the magnitude of human ignorance. America seems to be about ensuring that the stupidest survive, and in the case of the hot McDonalds coffee on the lap lawsuit, the dumbest often get awarded millions of dollars. How did it ever come to this.
Snippits of two (2) email messages I received today.
http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/raturine.htm [1] It's the Lethal Thing [2] Lethal Rat Droppings / Urine [3] Rat Urine [4] The McDonald's Coffee Lawsuit [5] Crying Over Spilled Coffee [6] The Economics of Tort Law [7] (scroll down)
Sigh.
I'm on this mailing list and occasionally (okay, rather frequently) items such as these are forwarded as gospel; as truth that we shall hold dear to ourselves. They're nice people, don't get me wrong. But the whole lot of them use Windows email clients and think nothing of forwarding the silliest little thing to the list (including 39MB atachments) and then get all defensive if called to the carpet on such silliness.
I sent replies to the list about both of these, sending in links to debunk the email, and what do I get back? “Yadda‥yadda‥ I just forward 'em, I don't research 'em. My view is, better safe than sorry.” and “Mr. Wellspring of knowledge, If only you could use your powers for good.”
You might ask me why I'm still on such a list. Good question. I think I like rattling their cages from time to time. Like now.
[1] http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/raturine.htm
[2] http://urbanlegends.about.com/science/urbanlegends/library/blrats.htm
[3] http://www.urbanlegends.about.com/science/urbanlegends/library/blrats2.htm
[4] http://www.snopes2.com/toxins/raturine.htm
[5] http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A429950
[6] http://www.fair.org/extra/9505/legal.html