Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-30
FLIES AND GERMS.
Sick Rooms Should Be Made Flyprooi
and Foods Kept Under Cover.
From the New York Times.

From the New York Times.
Although it is about forty years since It
was known that flies were the agents for
transmitting disease germs from place to
place, 1t has been but recently that the
knowledge has been put to practical uses
in the prevention of disease. 1t Is now a
matter which should be known by every
intelligent man for his own protection.
Boards of health must act in this direction
and hospitals must take particular care to
prevent flies reaching any infectious ma
terial.
Attention has recently been directed to
the matter by the success attending war
fare against flies in the Manila prison to
stop an epidemic of cholera which was
daily carrying off from two to five of the
convicts. The water was free of the infec-
ton and were the foods, yet in spite of
all precautions the disease persisted in at
lacking men who had not been outside the
walls for long time. So 1t was finally de-
cided that the infection was carried by flies,
and the most drastic means were taken to
prevent these insects reaching any infec-
tious material in the prison, and especially
were they excluded from the foods. Screen
doors and windows were placed where
necessary, fly paper was used in large
amounts to capture occasional intruders-
and the epidemic promptly ceased.
1t has been conclusively proved that flies
are responsible for the spread of typhoid
fever here and there, where sanitary condi-
lions are not good and 1t is possible for
files to reach the infectious materials. OF
course. in the great majority of cases it IS
known that the germs are carried from one
patient to the next through the drinking
water into which they have been introduced
In sewerage, but there are little local out
breaks in which the water is known to be
free of the germs, and in which the foods,
particularly the milk, are also pure. In
these cases it Is found that the local con-
ditions such to make it an easy mat
ter for flies to carry the disease germs and
desposit them upon folds.
The military camps, both In our recent
war and in the Roer war are examples of
this method of the transmission of typhoid
fever. To one who has never lived In such
conditions 1t is difficult to appreciate the
unsanitary surroundings sure to arise within
two or three weeks. Swarms of flies
abound and 1t Is practically impossible to
prevent them walking over the foods and
spreading infection which they have else
where obtained. The commissions of sci
entists who have investigated this one point
have reported that the awful epidemics
which disgraced the American and English
camps were spread in no other way than
by the swarms of flies which pester all
military camps in warm weather.
1t Is generally said that flies do not per-
form any service which is Indispensable
and that the world would move along Just
as we'll IL they were all exterminated This
mistaken idea would not be mentioned IL
we would only remembr what is called the
balance of nature. The world is full of liy-
ing things, each one serving as a food to
some other. 1t Is evident then, that IL
any species Is killed off there will be a sub
seQuent distress of elimination of others
until a new balance Is obtained So 1t is
quite likely that the elimination of the flies
would bring disaster of some sort