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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Gainesville, Florida » Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology » Mosquito and Fly Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #330007
Research Project: Management of Filth Flies

Location: Mosquito and Fly Research

Title: Prevalence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 from house flies (Diptera: Muscidae) and dairy samples in North Central Florida

Author
item BURRUS, ROXANNE - Us Naval Medical Research Center
item Hogsette, Jerome - Jerry
item KAUFMAN, PHILLIP - University Of Florida
item MARUNIAK, JAMES - University Of Florida
item SIMONNE, AMY - University Of Florida
item MAI, VOLKER - University Of Florida

Submitted to: Journal of Medical Entomology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/24/2016
Publication Date: 12/24/2016
Citation: Burrus, R.G., Hogsette, Jr, J.A., Kaufman, P.E., Maruniak, J.E., Simonne, A.H., Mai, V. 2016. Prevalence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 from house flies (Diptera: Muscidae) and dairy samples in North Central Florida. Journal of Medical Entomology. 54(3):733-741. https://doi.org/10.1093/jme/tjw205.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jme/tjw205

Interpretive Summary: Efficient detection of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7, which is important when monitoring the safety of food products from cattle, has been primarily done by analysis of manure samples by selective cultivation techniques, PCR and ELISA. Each technique has biases, which requires the use of all three to increase detection efficiency. These difficulties can be circumvented by isolation of E. coli O157:H7 from house flies. House flies can disperse from dairies, where E. coli O157:H7 thrives in cattle, to restaurants where food is prepared and served. Our results showed that detecting E. coli O157:H7 in house flies was 2.7 X more frequent than in manure from dairies. Thus, house flies are a more reliable source of E. coli O157:H7 on dairies, in restaurants, processing plants and other establishments.

Technical Abstract: Efficient detection of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7, which is important when monitoring the safety of food products from cattle, has been primarily done by analysis of manure samples by selective cultivation techniques, PCR and ELISA. Each technique has biases, which requires the use of all three to increase detection efficiency. These difficulties can be circumvented by isolation of E. coli O157:H7 from house flies. House flies can disperse from dairies, where E. coli O157:H7 thrives in cattle, to restaurants where food is prepared and served. Our results showed that detecting E. coli O157:H7 in house flies was 2.7 X more frequent than in manure from dairies. Thus, house flies are a more reliable source of E. coli O157:H7 on dairies, in restaurants, processing plants and other establishments.