Role of flies as vectors of foodborne pathogens in rural areas.

Cláudia Barreiro,Joana Silva,Paula Teixeira,Helena Albano

doi:10.1155/2013/718780

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate flies as a vector for foodborne pathogens. For this purpose, several flies were collected from different sites from rural areas. These flies were then analyzed for the presence of Enterobacteriaceae, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus coagulase positive, and Listeria monocytogenes. Another aim of this study was to evaluate some virulence factors of the collected pathogens: susceptibility to some antibiotics and the presence of enterotoxigenic S. aureus. The results showed that flies in the presence of animals demonstrated a significantly higher prevalence of the studied pathogens than those collected in the kitchens, and kitchens situated in the closest proximity to the animal husbandry had a higher count than the kitchens in private houses. Enterobacteriaceae was the indicator organism with the highest microbial counts followed by E. coli and S. aureus. Listeria monocytogenes was not detected from any of the collected flies. The antimicrobial susceptibility test showed that the bacteria carried by the flies possessed multiantibiotic resistance profiles, and enterotoxin A was produced by 17.9% of the confirmed S. aureus isolates. These results demonstrate that flies can transmit foodborne pathogens and their associated toxin and resistance and the areas of higher risk are those in closer proximity to animal production sites.

Highlights

Flies are “pests” of great medical and veterinary significance and are one of the most important vectors of human diseases worldwide [1, 2]
Stable flies are bloodsucking insects and important pests of domestic animals and people and can cause great economic losses in the animal industry [4], and they can play a role in ecology of various bacteria originating from animal manure and other larval developmental habitats [5]
Most bacteria associated with insects include foodborne pathogenic bacteria such as Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., Shigella spp., and others [6]

Summary

Introduction

Flies are “pests” of great medical and veterinary significance and are one of the most important vectors of human diseases worldwide [1, 2]. Houseflies are important nuisance pests of domestic animals and people, as well as the main fly vectors of foodborne and animal pathogens [3]. Cardozo et al [15] identified E. coli and Salmonella spp. in a population of houseflies collected from a local milk production and manufacturing of handmade Minas cheese. Another naturally occurring association between insects and Salmonella spp. occurs in synanthropic flies. Blunt et al [19] confirmed the potential of the dominant Musca domestica flies to act as ISRN Microbiology vectors for circovirus carriage, and this potential may be true for many nonenveloped viruses In another perspective, Faulde and Spiesberger [20] showed that a moth fly is a potential mechanical vector of bacterial pathogens associated with nosocomial infections

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