Pace Paw Print

Media Credit: Michelle Callender

For the last week, it seems as though Pace University, Pleasantville campus, has been infested with flies. They are all over the dorms, including Martin Hall and North Hall, and even in the cafeteria of Kessel Student Center.

It appears that these flies aren't traveling one by one, but instead by the dozen. Flies have been seen landing on the food, on the countertops, and on the tables in the dining room.

Are these flies really dangerous and harming us when they land on the food we eat?

There are over 90,000 different types of flies; therefore it is difficult to differentiate which type is on campus. However, there is a generalization about most species of flies.

Flies have sticky feet. This is what allows them to stay on smooth surfaces and hang upside down without falling off. When flies land on surfaces, they pick up germs and other bacteria on their feet. As a result, when they land on other surfaces, such as the food we eat or utensils we eat off of, they spread potentially infectious germs and bacteria.

Houseflies in particular breed around manure, garbage, and rotting flesh. When these flies walk around surfaces, they leave behind germ infested particles from their last breeding site.

When flies land on food and eat, they are also spreading germs. According to Linda Mosbacker, a writer for The Utah Education Network, flies don't chew their food. They suck their food up with their tongue, which is shaped like a straw. In order to dissolve the food, or break it down in order to digest it, the fly needs to vomit. By vomiting, the "digestive juices, enzymes, and saliva in the vomit" can break the food down. Consequently, the fly sometimes vomits on the surfaces it lands on, including food. When flies eat food from garbage cans and then throws up on the food we eat, it is being infested with garbage contents.

Flies can potentially cause food poisoning and other health problems. One type of food poisoning, Campylobacter jejuni (C. jenuni), is also spread by healthy chickens, cattle, and birds. Symptoms of food poisoning from C. jejuni consist of fevers, abdominal and muscle pain, nausea, headache, and diarrhea. The diarrhea may be "be watery or sticky and may contain blood." Food poisoning may appear within a few hours, up to days later, or in mild cases, may go away on its own with no noticeable symptoms.

Even though serious threats may be noticeable or unnoticeable from flies, they need to be kept away from the food we consume in order to prevent contamination and the spread of germs and bacteria.

Article Tools