No Evidence of SARS-CoV-2 Among Flies or Cockroaches in Households Where COVID-19 Positive Cases Resided.

ABSTRACT: Flies and other arthropods mechanically transmit multiple pathogens and a recent experimental study demonstrated house flies, Musca domestica L. (Diptera: Muscidae), can mechanically transmit SARS-CoV-2. The purpose of this study was to explore the possibility of mechanical transmission of SARS-CoV-2 by domestic insects and their potential as a xenosurveillance tool for detection of the virus. Flies were trapped in homes where at least one confirmed human COVID-19 case(s) resided using sticky and liquid-baited fly traps placed inside and outside the home in the Texas counties of Brazos, Bell, and Montgomery, from June to September 2020. Flies from sticky traps were identified, pooled by taxa, homogenized, and tested for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA using quantitative reverse transcriptio

SUBMITTER: Roundy CM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9278844 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature