The role of flies in the transmission of eye disease in Egypt.

Abstract

SummaryTwo species of flies, M. d. vicina and M. sorbens, collected from the faces of Egyptian village children from August, 1955, through June, 1956, were studied for types of internal and external bacterial flora. Enteric bacteria were found in every pool of flies, and organisms associated with respiratory infections, conjunctivitis, and pyogenic infections were frequently isolated. Although seasonal variation in total numbers of bacteria was not observed, organisms of the Micrococcus group were isolated more often than other organisms, and indicated some seasonal variation in prevalence, which was not entirely explainable on the basis of relative fly prevalence. The beta-hemolytic staphylococci and streptococci were isolated most frequently during August, while the nonhemolytic and alpha-hemolytic micrococci were found most often during April, May and June. The corynebacteria were isolated most frequently during May and June.Bacterial types similar to those isolated from flies were obtained from both normal and diseased eyes of Egyptian children. The organisms most commonly isolated from either eyes or flies were the hemolytic micrococci, several of which produced ophthalmia in experimentally infected rabbits.