FT261


The myth

Houseflies spread disease by traipsing dung all over our food.


The "truth"

Despite an immense and varied industry devoted to protecting us from the deadly housefly, the fact is that if you live in Britain, your precautions are probably unnecessary. There are two kinds of housefly: Musca domestica and Fannia canicularis. Musca is no longer common in the UK, except in rural areas where there are plenty of manure heaps in which it can breed. It used to be our main housefly, and is indeed a notorious spreader of a wide range of pathogens, but its sad decline began when motor vehicles started to replace horses: cars don’t crap.