I dread to think how this fella explained why he wasn’t coming in work to his boss, as getting food poisoning in your penis sounds like a story straight out of the fake sickie bible.
But unfortunately for this 38-year-old, his diagnosis was no joke.
In what is believed to be the first ever case of it’s kind in the world, his tackle became toxic shortly after he shared an intimate moment with his wife…and the saga also strangely involved some unrefrigerated rice.
After being plagued by a series of painful symptoms in his downstairs region for the best part of a week, the bloke decided to seek some medical attention.
He sought the advice of urologists after redness, swelling and scabbing on his penis continued to persist after several days – and medics were even more alarmed when he revealed this had all began after he suffered a bout of severe diarrhoea and vomiting.
Doctors at the American University of Beirut Medical Center in Lebanon then decided to take a swab of the patient’s pecker to test for infection – but it’s safe to say none of them were expecting the results which came back from the lab.
The dad-of-two bizarrely contracted food poisoning… on his penis (Getty Stock Image)
Bizarrely, further investigation detected the presence of a bacteria, known as bacillus cereus, on his manhood.
This is a food-borne pathogen which is typically found in rice, cereals, spices, milk and cream which has been left out at room temperature for too long.
According to the NHS, bacillus cereus ‘produces spores that survive heat processing’ and ‘grows rapidly at room temperature producing toxins’, resulting in sickness, diarrhoea, gastrointestinal pain and nausea.
After stewing over the flummoxing food poisoning case, doctors ruled that the man must have contracted the bacterial infection on his penis following the episode of diarrhoea and vomiting – which came almost immediately after he had finished having ‘vigorous sex’ with his wife.
During intercourse, viruses and bacteria can travel more easily between bodies through breaks in the skin – and let’s not forget there’s a ton of bodily fluids flying about.
According to the Daily Mail, medics concluded that the bacillus cereus had somehow come into direct contact with his private region.
They reckoned it was ‘unusual’ to merely see bacillus cereus in the skin for once – so imagine their shock when it managed to penetrate this guy’s penis.
Doctors believe the combination of the rice he had ate and the ‘vigorous sex’ he had with his life were a perfect storm for bacillus cereus (Getty Stock Image)
However, it seems a meal containing rice which he had eaten just a day before his symptoms started was to blame.
According to the study, which was published in the journal Annals of Medicine and Surgery, this was the ‘first case in literature’ of a patient suffering food poisoning in the penis.
The father-of-two was given a topical antibiotic called fusidic acid – which is usually used to treat eye infections – while medics also urged him to wash the area ‘properly’ as well as avoiding sex and masturbation until it healed.
Four weeks after the man received his unusual diagnosis, he reported that he was no longer experiencing any burning or discomfort – and luckily, the infection did not return.
Boffins authoring the study in the journal Annals of Medicine and Surgery explained that penile infections typically rear their head after the patient suffers an injury which creates an open wound.
Nine times out of ten, it’s got something to do with the bacteria group, A streptococcus.
The medics added: “In this current case, it is plausible that the diarrhoea and vomitus which contaminated the penis post intercourse is likely the source of the skin infection.”
