Rentokil has issued a warning of the “increased threat of flies this summer.” The warning comes as the provider announced a 16% increase in callouts for infestations between January to July when compared with the same period last year.
The top five counties which have accounted for fly infestations during the period of January to July 2022 are: Cork (which accounted for 18% of callouts), Kerry (15%), Sligo (14%), Galway (11%) and Mayo (9%).
In a statement, Rentokil said: “Flies pose the threat of spreading bacteria such as E-coli and campylobacter to humans when they come into contact with food. To discourage the presence of flies on their premises, Rentokil would encourage people to take steps including: Fix leaky taps and blocked drains where water can gather; keep food covered; keep bins, sinks and food areas clean; fit fly screens to windows; keep windows and doors shut at night.”
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The pest control provider also advised the public to consider installing a “fly killer unit,” which experts urge against in an effort to protect wildlife. One recent study in the UK found a 60% reduction in flying insects between 2004 and 2021 while a global study published in 2019 found that Over 40% of insect species are threatened with extinction.
Collie Ennis is a research associate in the Department of Zoology at Trinity College Dublin and says that flies are a vital part of our ecosystem.
“Flies are an integral part of our ecosystem and necessary for the recycling of dead matter and for feeding numerous animals from bats to birds and frogs and newts. There’s no such thing as bad flies they’re just part of the environment and they’re doing what they do,” he said.
Ennis says hygiene is the key to not attracting flies into your house, “they have no interest in anything unless there’s something there for them to feed off or to lay their eggs off, so it’s just a matter of keeping the place clean.”
Ennis said that flies are hugely necessary, “they break down dead matter in our fields and our parks, their maggots help to do that and they also provide food for numerous different species of animals which are much more attractive to us and that we’re much more fond of like bats, birds and frogs. Without them around we probably wouldn’t exist,” he said.
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