The koro syndrome is a psychiatric disorder characterized by acute anxiety and a deep-seated fear of shrinkage of the penis and its ultimate retraction into the abdomen, which will cause death.
In 1967, a Koro outbreak in Singapore subsided only after a massive propaganda campaign in which health officials assured the public it was anatomically impossible for the penis to retract into the body. The government also ordered the media to stop airing stories on reported cases.
As recently as 2003, a similar epidemic swept through the capital of Sudan, where hundreds of men became convinced their penises would melt if they came into contact with Zionists trying to wipe them out. Word of the disease spread through the media and text messaging. One local columnist advised readers to avoid "a dark-skinned man" who was spreading the disease. Others thought the disease was passed through verbal curses or an electronic "robot" comb.