Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2026
Keywords
Campylobacter, house fly, black dump fly, broiler breeder
Abstract
Adult filth flies (Diptera: Muscidae) (non-biting flies that develop in decaying organic matter) are abundant in poultry facilities and may contribute to the dissemination of pathogenic Campylobacter spp. among flocks. We sampled adult house flies, Musca domestica L., and black dump flies, Hydrotaea aenescens (Wiedemann), at five broiler-breeder farms in Oklahoma and Arkansas to determine the prevalence of Campylobacter spp. vectored by filth flies and the effects of farm, fly species, and location (inside vs outside houses) on the rates of Campylobacter spp. occurrence. A total of 1,076 house flies and 1,008 black dump flies were collected inside and outside the broiler-breeder houses and tested individually for Campylobacter spp. using PCR that targeted an 857 bp fragment of the 16S rRNA gene. The PCR products from a subset of positive flies were sequenced and identified as Campylobacter jejuni. A total of 13.4% of the filth flies were positive for Campylobacter spp. across all the farms, and the farm-level prevalence ranged from 6.4 to 27.0%. There was no significant difference in the prevalence between house flies (12.3%) and black dump flies (14.7%) or between the flies collected inside (13.3%) versus outside (14.6%) the facilities. This study had a considerably higher proportion of filth flies compared with previously published studies from broiler houses in Denmark (2.7% positive) and the UK (3.2% positive). In contrast, the prevalence of both fly species was lower than that reported from turkey facilities in Arkansas. These findings indicate that both house flies and black dump flies are important carriers of Campylobacter spp. in broiler-breeder facilities and should be considered in integrated strategies to reduce the transmission of Campylobacter during the production of poultry. These findings warrant careful consideration, as some studies have proposed the release of black dump flies as a biological control agent for house flies.
Citation
McKay, Tanja, C. Dayton Steelman, Carrie O. Cottone, and Allen L. Szalanski. "Molecular detection of Campylobacter spp. in filth flies1 associated with broiler breeder facilities in Oklahoma and Arkansas." Southwestern Entomologist 51, no. 1 (2026): 109-124.
