Flies are not as frequent an annoyance as they used to be. Cleaning-up of surroundings, the use of flypaper and fly swatters and the various insect repellents are serving to eliminate them. Such flies as the common housefly, stable flies, greenbottle flies, bluebottle flies, blowflies, fruit flies, and others feed on contaminated garbage, and may spread viruses and germs.
Such filth-feeding flies have been incriminated in the spread of epidemics of typhoid, dysentery, diarrhea, cholera, infectious hepatitis, and other diseases.
A female housefly can lay as many as 2000 eggs during a lifetime—i.e., the fly’s lifetime. In warm weather these eggs hatch in from eight to ten hours and the new flies go right on breeding.
Here are some simple recommendations for getting rid of filth-feeding flies:
- Clean up yards, vacant lots, and all surroundings.
- Get rid of accumulations of decaying material.
- Keep all garbage cans covered, and wash them frequently.
- Don’t spill garbage around the can or permit it on the sides of the can. Fill in all low spots where water is accumulated after rain.
- Screen all doors and windows in the home and keep the screens in repair. Cover the baby carriage with mosquito netting when the baby is sleeping outdoors.
- Keep flies out of any sick room.
- Be sure that all food is kept covered, and do not buy food where it is constantly exposed to flies.
Swat the fly, and be sure the, fly swatter is scrubbed once in a while. Always wash your hands with soap and water after handling a fly. Outdoor privies should be soundly constructed and screened.
Remember, if there is no exposed debris or filth there will probably be few flies.