Reply #29: Ahem [View All]

[hedgehog]

Houseflies can produce huge economic and sanitary problems, especially in modern farm animal business. As an example, the annual damage in Georgia (3.3 million cattle and 27 million poultry) caused by houseflies alone was calculated to be around 2.4 million USD per year.1 The major damage in livestock is caused by the transmission of various diseases. Among them as one of the most threatening diseases not only for the animals but also for human beings is avian influenza (AI).2 Other diseases transmitted by flies are tuberculosis,3 coccidosis,4 cholera,5 helminthiasis,6 PRRS,7 and approximately 100 further diseases.8


http://www.canadianpoultrymag.com/content/view/1187/142/


My impression is that the virus is also shed in feces, and the flies carry feces.



I also have come across several secondary references to biting flies, although I can't find a primary source for this.