If You Hear a Fly’s Buzz, Quick Cover Your Food!


Flies are annoying- but did you know they can actually be harmful, too?

Flies like to hang around humans and pick on their food. New research conducted by professor Donald Bryant and published in Scientific Reports indicates that one may have a reason to discard food left uncovered in the presence of flies. Two common fly, the housefly and blowfly, can carry hundreds of different bacteria, many of these bacteria are harmful to humans.

Due to this discovery, coming from new research that is first to examine flies ‘guts’ contents in detail, Professor Bryant and his co-author Stephan Schuster warn that public health officials may need to look again at the role flies can play in spreading sickness. To test how flies may cause outbreaks, professor Bryant and Schuster analyzed the microbiome of 116 houseflies and blowflies on three different continents.

Although the flies’ stomachs hosted many germs, the researchers discovered that the flies’ legs and wings were found to be mainly responsible for transferring germs. Flies spread bacteria everywhere they land, and is bacteria often reproduce on these surfaces.

So, next time there’s a fly around, be sure to cover any food. We cannot always stop flies from annoying us- but we can at least try to prevent them from making us sick.

[Source: Gizmodo.com ]

I really liked this article!! – Ashley , Wright Middle School (2018-04-07 12:55)
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