Killer crosswalk controls

This is what Channel 5's investigative team has been reduced to: Janet Wu wandering around Boston like some crazed pediatrician with a throat-culture Q-tip, rubbing random objects in random public places (such as a single crossing button at a single, unidentified crosswalk) and having a lab determine whether they have bacteria on them.

Guess what? They do! Alas, Janet can't tell us if these are KILLER GERMS because she apparently spent so much on the swab sticks that Channel 5 refused to pay for real testing. But you never know:

The samples were random, and Krueger said the test does not differentiate between good bacteria and bad bacteria.

"If the surface has got a high total bacteria count -- it increases the likelihood that it has pathogenic bacteria, as well," Krueger said.

Team 5 Investigates: Where the germs are