10 Bizarre Cases Of Mass Hysteria
6. The Shrinking Penis Epidemic (1967)
In 1967, a vicious rumour spread in Singapore suggesting that if you eat vaccinated pork your penis will shrink, retract into your body, and you will die. In July of that year, 55,000 pigs were vaccinated and needless to say, the men of Singapore reacted badly.
Despite official announcements and constant assurances that your penis will not shrink and kill you, the sale of pork in markets and restaurants dropped to almost zero.
Government hospitals and dispensaries were crowded with over 80 men a day over the course of the outbreak, all convinced their penises were disappearing. And worryingly, some men tied blocks of wood to their penis to stop them from retracting into the body.