THE DEADLY HOUSE FLY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2845, 23 September 1908, Page 76

THE DEADLY HOUSE FLY.

DOCTORS ON THE NEED OF. EXTERMINATION.

CARRIERS OF DISEASE.

The per/ls to public health caused by tGs house-fly were the chief subject of debate at the annual' congress of the Royal Institute of Publio Health at Buxton recently. Dr Gordon Hewlett declared that there ■was evidenoe that house-flies performed an important part in the dissemination of summer diarrhoea and other infectious enterio diseases, including typhoid. When the Local' Government Board report on the question, was issued they might approach the Government with a yi^w- . leeielajtion to stamp out the^fly;, nijusance^. Councillor 'Jacob, of; Liverpool, sa'jicl that house-flies'' uri3o'ubtc3ly sp'read'^ phthisis, anthrax, typhoid, and ophthalmia. '~t)r Snell, of Coventry, attributed the deaths of children from summer diarrhoea to infection brought by flies. <- v Sir James Grichtou-Browne agreed that tho house-fly was a prolific source of disease. A& many- as 100,000 : bacilli had been found on b< 'fly's', leg. He-'hoitecl «hat lEfor tho sakdfof. public health -they *wtfultt><' succeed in exterminating the fly;nand;diat? they woukj, .jhaye., to take th?*r g;n(£idcbildTen" to- the British Museum to see the only specimens. It is a curious fact, discovered many years ago, that flies will not pass a thin. net stretched across a window, even if the meshes are an inch or more across. They ought to fly in alarm from carbolic fumes, which old-time house-wives made by means of cwbolio on a hot shovel, '-,-I•l l; f i "u> -tr Against attack in the- oj>en Wie^,putf»n- 4 hole gives some protection. ' 'Soies,' l^ 1 a"' general rule, ' dislike smells ' ' wnicn '■ to 1 ' ''mart' 1 J are pleasant. Mignonette, 'ffcjri example}'--tends to repel them, and 'bruised- jwalnufeir leaves will also keep them off:, -mi' ij.ii-.tt Another topic discussed was ,th&. spread n of disease, particularly typhoid, by jper,son£ ( j. who emitted tho germs while remaining - apparently good health. Dr Marsaen',' medical officer of Birkenhead, gave the history of four such cases w%ich 'had come under his observation. He bdliflVe'd infection was frequently spread by these germ carriers, but could only suggest the strictest personal cleanliness as a remedy. Mr John Graham, of Manchester, stated that the lungs of town dwellers exposed at post moitem examinations appeared Black with carbon, and that working life in the great towns was curtailed by 10 years by the prevalence of smoke and grime.